In July (2000)

Faith Akin is one of the best and brightest directorial voices working in Europe today, and while this early film isn't quite as strong as his more recent masterpieces, it's still a sweet, funny and worthwhile love story. On the surface it's a very familiar romantic comedy plot – the misadventures of guy searching for girl he thinks he loves, while missing the fact that the perfect girl is right beside him. But it's so charming, with a fun, playful, inventive cinematic style, a great soundtrack, and terrific supporting characters that it's easy to forgive any clichés and a few moments of overacting. A film that will make you smile.

Controversial German-Turkish filmmaker Faith Akin followed the critical success of his debut feature "Short Sharp Shock" and cemented his popular appeal with this cute rom-com that takes its protagonists from downtown Hamburg to the banks of the Bosporus in Istanbul that proved a successful sophomore feature.Prolific German actor Moritz Bleibtreu makes a likable lead and generates great chemistry with the über-cute Christiane Paul as his sometime love interest whilst excellent support comes from the charming Mehmet Kurtulus at the head of a quirky supporting cast that includes the ephemeral İdil Üner, the insane Branka Katić and a brief appearance from Akin himself.The accomplished filmmaker employs all the standard clichés in this run-of-the-mill road movie that is lifted to a whole new level by a diverse and talented cast and crew who put there passion for film-making onto the screen in a way that has long since deserted the Hollywood factory.Hey, we got a long way to go, man.

This film is aided tremendously by the performances of its very charismatic stars, Moritz Bleibtreu and Christiane Paul. For a movie that relies on two people to carry it, it is imperative they appeal to the audience and, fortunately, both succeed. This German movie is everything a road trip movie should be: fun, surprising, unabashedly romantic, filled with well-developed characters and plot twists interesting enough to hold one's attention throughout. It is testament to the solid writing that we genuinely care about both of the main characters and like them so much that we simultaneously want them to attain their own desires as well as those we have chosen for them. I didn't really find any false steps in this movie and every time it seemed to venture into an undesirable area, it ended up advancing the plot in a positive way. No, it isn't terribly realistic, some of it seems contrived and in ways it is somewhat predictable. These faults are forgivable, however, because it is so well done. Another thing that sets this movie apart from the pack is that it is one German movie that does not actually attempt to deal with the country's Nazis past (for once). For me it has the added attractions that some of it was set in Hamburg, where I lived for a time, as well as being in German, which was my major in college. However, that is a personal preference and not everyone will find that terribly appealing. If road trips or romantic comedies are your bag, I recommend this one highly.

What I found special about the "Im Juli" is that, although the story feels like a fantasy, the characters are very warm and real. All those meetings and coincidences looked a little unbelievable first time, but now I think everything makes sense if we see the story as an allegory…meaningful but at the same time light and funny.The playfulness of the script might perhaps make some miss the message of the movie, but the message actually is there and is a strong one. As I see it, "Im Juli" is a story about hope and about finding life and happiness. Searching for the one meant for you in furthest places to realise that what you've been searching for was right next to you all along.I liked the idea of the first part of the movie being a flashback until we get back to the sun eclipse we had seen at the beginning. After the sun comes out again it looks like dark gets out of Daniel's mind and the sun shows him the right way this time: that Juli was the one he had been searching all along. The whole journey changes Daniel incredibly much as with her sun amulet, Juli learns him to do the same as her: trust faith and go on searching for happiness. The ending was really perfect: all the 4 characters' roads coming together and Daniel finally seeing the ultimate proof that he had found what he was looking for.What I enjoyed about the movie is that although the message is a serious one, the story is so light and everything goes on really fast and surprising. The whole journey through so many different countries and passing beside so many different people and cultures was really interesting and refreshing, as were all the characters in the movie. All the actors, playing the Turkish guy, Luna or the officer at the Romanian border, looked they were really enjoying their roles and brought most of the movie's humour: great, subtle and nothing Hollywood like.All in all, I thought it was a really enjoyable movie, so different from the usual productions we get from Hollywood. Really a movie you shouldn't miss!