Film Review: "Gegen Die Wand"

Starring: Birol Ünel, Sibel Kekilli, Meltem Cumbul, Catrin Striebeck, Stefan Gebelhoff, Güven Kiraç

Director: Fatih Akın

Initial Release Date: 04/12/04 [Berlin Film Festival]

Running Time: 123 Minutes

A magnificently beautiful passenger liner sailing across the Atlantic; A luxurious Northeast African city; Some greeting card office in America; A Sex Pistols Concert; The psychiatric ward at a German Hospital, what do those five specific venues have in common? All are places where strange, but interestingly complicated romantic relationships began.

“Are you Turkish? Would you marry me?” Those are the last few words Cahit Tomruk would ever expect to hear from a random woman, but then again he was inside a psychiatric ward. After surviving a failed attempt at suicide, by a direct head-on drunk-driven collision with his car and a wall, Cahit is brought to this medical facility, where he meets a fellow-psych ward patient, Sibel Guner. She is the woman who awkwardly asks Cahit to marry her. Sibel is admitted to the same hospital, due to attempting suicide as well, by slashing her wrists.

Growing up in a very conservative Turkish household in Germany, Sibel has always felt disenfranchised from her family. This is why she is very distressed. The only thing keeping her from running away her family is the love she has for her mother. It is through her idea of marrying Cahit, a German-Turkish man; she can be liberated from the household. The thing is, Cahit doesn’t want to be married. He recently lost his wife, which the film sadly does not reveal. This is why he acts out by diverting his attention to alcoholism and cocaine. The other reason Cahit does not want to marry Sibel, is because he despises the Turkish culture and it’s people, which is the most ironic plot device in the entire story. Even though he was born in a small province, in Turkey, he speaks the language poorly. The only thing truly attaching him to his Turkish heritage is his best friend, Seref, who also acts as his Jiminy Cricket.

For some reason Cahit feels pity for Sibel, which is why he decided to marry her. He manages to persuade her family, even though he is 20 years older than her. They have a civil wedding, followed by a big Turkish reception. This plays as a nice contrast to the cultural aspect of the film. Sibel also invites her cousin, Selma, to be her witness at the wedding ceremony, and also acts as Seref’s female counterpart. After they wed, Sibel finally feels liberated and doesn’t feel the need to cut her wrists anymore. As for Cahit, he still drinks heavily, smokes like a chimney, and managed to get his “new wife” hooked on cocaine.

During the course of their “marriage,” Sibel sleeps around with other men, which they both agreed upon before tying the knot. At times, Cahit would accompany Sibel to dance clubs and watch her hook up with other men. Cahit also does some other extra marital sexual encounters with a friend of his former deceased wife, which he’s been probable having sex with a few years/months after she passed away. Even though the two haven’t had a true intimate connection with each other, and have been treating the streets of Hamburg like the temple of Dionysius. They still manage to slowly fall for one another, but it doesn’t manifest overtly fast.

During one evening, when both already have strong feelings for each other, yet the manifestation wasn’t obvious. Niko, one of Sibel’s many one-time sexual partners, falls madly in love with her and finds out that she is married to Cahit. Both men are patrons at this bar, which is where Niko goes to verbally taunt Sibel’s estranged husband, by calling him a “pimp” and other derogatory terms. In a fit of drunken rage, he smacks an ashtray to his harasser’s temple, killing him instantly. Sibel reaches the bar, only to find Niko’’s lifeless body and her husband hovering over the lifeless body.

Cahit is sent to prison, and the Sibel’s father and brother disown her completely. With nowhere to turn, she leaves Germany and goes to Turkey, in Istanbul, to live with Selma. Over there she kind of turns into what Cahit was in the start of the film; always self-abusive through intoxicating substances. Her fits of inebriation and rebellion cause her to alienate Selma, and get viciously beaten and stabbed by a group of men.

After a long unspecified duration of time, the Cahit is released from prison. He tells Seref that he really loves Sibel, and he wants to go after her, in Istanbul. Seref calls him crazy, but he retorts by saying that it is through his love and the letters of Sibel that kept him going in Prison. Seref understands his best friend’s wishes and gives him the money to buy a ticket to Istanbul. Once he gets to Turkey, he meets up with Selma, but is shocked to hear bad news. He finds out that Sibel has a daughter and a boyfriend. This doesn’t stop him from seeing or contacting her.

He manages to contact her, and they rendezvous at the hotel he is staying at in Istanbul. This is where they have their first moment of sexual contact. After they make love, she asks him about his plans. He tells her that he will go to his place birth, Mersin, which is also in Turkey. She tells him yes, and he tells her to meet him at the bus stop with her daughter. While packing she hears her child playing with her boyfriend, then she contemplates about her decision. Then, we see Cahit leaving on the bus, alone.

Sibel Kekilli’s (Yes, her character has the same name as her) performance was very enticing. Her range and depth was very thrilling. The way she manipulated the audience in a provocative fashion, was seductive to me. At first, she appeared to be this terribly insane woman, but in the long scheme of things she was just distressed and troubled from familial pressure and society. Her performance was the real standout factor in the entire film. Yes, all the actors and actress performed amazingly, in this film, but Sibel’s performance was just too riveting.

The film had some very strong scenes. From the scenes where a lot of blood was used, which sets as the film’s dark tones. Including the rampant drug-driven sexual encounters between Catih and Maren, where one of their trysts lead to a game of backgammon. My favorite scene is where Catih confronts Selma. The film’s language constantly pans from German to Turkish, which adds more to the film’s very rich diversity. But during their small (but powerful) chat, both sporadically break into small bursts of dialogues in English, which shows how the intensity of the scenario is developing.

This was the fourth film by Fatih Akın, who was it's director and writer. Basing some of the scenarios from his life as a Turkish German, Fatih manages to bring the viewers into a perspective only a few can witness. From the blatant racism towards the Turkish community in Germany, to the conservatism that strongly practiced in a Turkish German household. The film speaks more about culture than it does about Cahit & Sibel’s relationship. The usage of a Turkish band performing local songs, along the riverbanks of the Blue Horn as they are facing away from the famous Blue Mosque, from the beginning of the film until the credits hit was genuinely poetic.

Verdict: A Must See!  

Film Review: "Safety Not Guaranteed"

Starring: Aubrey Plaza, Mark Duplass, Jake M. Joseph, Karan Soni, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Kristen Rice, Jeff Garlin 

Director: Colin Trevorrow

Initial Release Date: 01/22/12 [Sundance Film Festival] & 06/08/12 [Limited: USA]

Running Time: 86 Minutes

A fun and heart warming comedy about love is set to the backdrop of a cool small coastal town in America's Pacific Northwest. But, unlike all love stories this one has a very special twist, which some would even call - Scientifically fictional.

A journalist, two magazine interns, and a brilliantly clouded mind are the characters in this tale of love, heartbreak, discovery, and time travel. In a magazine publication based in Seattle, WA, is having staff meeting. In the prospect of finding new pieces to put in their next publication, Jeff Schwensen (Johnson), a senior writer at the magazine volunteers to write about this wanted ad he was emailed, by a fan. the wanted ad reads:

"Wanted: Somebody to go back in time with me. This is not a joke. You'll get paid after we get back. Must bring your own weapons. I have only done this once before. Safety not guaranteed."

The editor-in-chief, Bridget (Rajskub), approves on the topic, and Jeff chooses two inters to accompany him to do some research on who wrote the ad. Darius (Plaza) & Arnau (Soni), are the chosen interns who accompany him to the small fishing town of Ocean Shore, which is a few hours away from Seattle. As soon as they reach their motel, in town, they plan how they approach the ad's mysterious author. Immediately, they track him down by staking him out. The film's female lead, Darius, finds out that the owner of the ad is named, Kenneth Calloway (Duplass), a man in his mid-30s with a interesting fixation in quantum physics, and works at the local super market.

She regroups with her workmates and do further research as to where he lives, so they could their plans as to how they should approach Kenneth in answering his ad, without giving him the spooks. The next morning, they venture to his home, which turns out to be a run down raggedy old house in the woods that was left to Kenneth, when his parents passed away. Jeff takes the moment to be the first person to interact with Kenneth, but the wary homeowner sees through Jeff's insincerity, and feels alienated by the journalist. Rethinking his strategy with the group, he sends Darius to “seduce” with Kenneth into thinking that she is interested in joining his timer travelling excursion. She visits him at work, that very evening, and he sees her geeky awkwardly quirky church, which doesn't come too hostile to him. He accepts her as his time traveling partner and the adventure begins to gain momentum.

What the interns didn’t know was that their project leader actually chose to do the assignment, because it was where he had his first memorable romantic relationship, during his summers spent there as a teenager. The interns decipher his ulterior motives, when Jeff and Arnau are at the local pub, searching for the girl on Facebook. When you analyze the film, the only time traveling in the film is showcased through Jeff's character perspective. He ventures off to a place of his youth, trying to find some lost emotion & closure, but then it all collapses in front of him. The downward spiraling leads to a deterioration of his present. If only he knew that rekindling a nostalgic romance is never really guaranteed with a single grain of safety.

The film is an entity of it’s own. The dialogues aren’t extensive, but the characters are so in-depth and have dimensions that cause you to strongly invest in their every movement, you wouldn’t care about the lack of extensive talking parts. Mark Duplass’ portrayal of a pseudo-scientist who borders the limits of awkward sincerity and strong belief in one’s self. It’s like Dr. Emmett Brown paired up with Dale Doback and Brennan Hoback, in one charmingly disillusioned individual. Duplass has definitely showcases how he sheds the shell of him, always playing the character who is stern, mature, or socially apt. Darius Britt is just like the actress playing her, Aubrey Plaza. Quirky in her own respect, which gets you ardently endowed by her performance. Jeff is your typical journalist, with narcissistic behavior, which is also variegated through his pessimism & insecurity. The rut of the litter, Arnau, was my favorite. Embodying your typical nerdy Indian-American who perfectly fits the stereotypical category of the uber-studious Asian college kid in the Western world.

The complimenting of each relationship in the story, really gave the film an outstanding appeal. The strange bro-ish tandem of Arnau and Jeff is very noteworthy. They humorously joust off of each other’s personality. Jeff’s happy-go-lucky demeanor is contrasted to Arnau’s frail frame & gangly persona. Obviously Jeff gets the upper hand due to his seniority, and easy ability to overpower Arnau, but he does it with heart. He tries to help the kid, get the best out of his youth, and not squander over just education, and his evident love for his “super fast gaming laptop.”

Mark Duplass and his brother, Jay, team up with the producers of the 2006 indie film hit, Little Miss Sunshine, in creating this delightfully palatable tale. Director, Colin Trevorrow, utilizes the most intriguing aspects of the film’s characters, and emulating them to the point of believability. Even the cardboard flatness of the black suited government agents following Kenneth, had a more depth than most characters, in their role.

Though the film may not answer questions of whether the possibility of keeping the relinked flame of a juvenile amorousness for a long period of time, or further the human understanding of time travel. It still manages to serve its purpose as a fascinating look into man's fragile psyche, and its never-ending social paradoxes. Formulating a quaint and intimate atmosphere, you will surely be enchanted by its lovably complex simplicity.

Verdict: A Must See!