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!