Head-On (2004)

The story - Its slightly complicated. Its about two people. The male protagonist (names I cant pronounce) who was running away from life due to a certain nothingness in his life. He faces a girl who is running away, albeit from family and traditions of a Turkish family settled in Hamburg. She bumps into him and asks him to help her. Help, for marrying her so that she could come out of her boundations and life life, the way she wants to and discover things.While the guy is forced into this union, the association changes their lives in different ways. They agreed that they are only taking help of each other to satisfy the girls parents. It turns out that the girl goes on her reckless way discovering what she wants in life, and the guy who had no interest in anything falls in love with this girl.A turn of events bring them close emotionally but take them apart at the same time. The movie is all about the tryst in their fortunes and how the characters integrate their lives with their hopes of living it a certain way.For the complexity this movie tries to portray, yet handling the plot very well, I give it a 7 on 10.

I haven't watched such a great movie for a long time and it is really great to see that this is a Turkish movie. After Nuri Bilge Ceylan's success with Uzak in Cannes Film Festival, Faith Akin made a very successful move in contributing to Turkish cinema. First of all, the movie explains the life of the Turkish immigrants in Germany in a perfect way. We see how they cannot be neither German nor Turkish anymore. They are stuck in between and they act as punks. For instance, it is really true that most of the young Turkish people in Germany cannot speak Turkish, like Cahit. We also see the ridiculous pressure of Sibel's family: For instance, while her married brother threatens&beats her whenever she has a boyfriend, he and his friends can comfortably speak about how they sleep with prostitutes! Also the cast is very good, especially Sibel Kekilli and Birol Unel. I loved the scene where we can see the smile in Sibel's eyes in the amusement park: she is so much in love... In addition, there are so many things to say about the movie.. The story is a very striking one itself. The hopelessness of the characters in a world without love and moral values are explained so well-without making it dramatic. Also, Sibel's life in Istanbul, her cousin's life-like many of us: still single and waiting to be promoted!- are also judgements beside the main genre. The music is also very nice, with Depeche Mode and also traditional Turkish music. Faith Akin has really made a good job.. The script is excellent and the scenes are all pieces of artwork. I wish the best for him and all the cast and I hope to see movies perfect like this in the future too...

You get to see two totally hapless characters in this movie. Sibel comes from a traditional Turkish family. She wants to break loose, she enjoy her life to the fullest. She wants to drink, sleep around, use drugs etc. While Cahit is an empty bottle collector who is very unhappy with life.When Sibel meets Cahit in a hospital, she asks him if he could marry her. Cahit says no, then he wants to know the reason. She says, they would marry but will not have any physical relationship. She just wants to go away from her family. They get married. But after some time, they start to love each other and this love becomes the very reason for their devastation. But in the end it turns out that, this love changes both of them completely. One thing I've learned from this movie is that love can change your life totally. Only love can do impossible things possible. The love between Sibel and Cahit becomes a reason for destroying both of their lives. But this love becomes the only reason to make them better human beings. Sibel kekilli was a porn star before she did this film. She has done a fabulous job in this film along with her opposite actor. This wonderful actress has been pulled out of the porn industry by the director and given a fine actress to the film industry. This movie is very powerful and I give it 8/10.

This film is a tragic Turkish love story set in Germany. Cahit and Sibel are two lonely souls trying to find an escape who incidentally meet at a psychiatric hospital after attempting suicide.Cahit, having lost the love of his life is lost and thinking that he has nothing else to live for, he is constantly drinking and one night drives his car into a brick wall. Sibel is a young woman imprisoned by tradition and family. In her attempts to free herself from their prison, tries to take her own life.In a bid to remove her family's (especially her father and brother) stronghold over her, she coerces Cahit to marry her. The marriage is a convenience where they both see each other as roommates and pretend to be a couple when Sibel's family are around. However when they begin to know each other better, they start to fall in love, and that's when the trouble begins.The film begins with a band of Turkish folk singers singing what I can only assume is a love song. The band appears several times during the film and set the mood for the coming chapters.This film is a tragic love story that has so many twists and turns and does not have a Hollywood ending. However, the photography is superb and the storyline is very touching.