Mixed Kebab (2012)

Very good script, acting, direction, production values by all. The ending confused me but Bram did introduce Kevin as his boyfriend and they will be together again but now Bram has to be with his family so pretty much all's well that ends well. I really liked this movie.

Gay-theme movies have this tendency: sad ending!But this one, it has so many interpretations and I have come but one of my own. When Bram introduced Kevin as his boyfriend to his parents and despite being shrugged and coldness of his father, the mother has been kind and truth-accepting and she looks more welcoming. Kevin walks away and gave a smile, an "it is now alright and come to me soon" kind of a smile - I can but feel content and happy for them.Excellent movies and Kevin is very good as well. Good looking and really showing an interest into Bram - you can see how he looks at him! It is just perfect.It is good and moving too, swaying us around the Turkish culture and confronting the very situation in Europe - the immigration but they themselves are having internal problem too. It may be a film, but some of that can be factual too. Except for Osama bin Laden photo, I don't think terrorist would be stupid enough to plaster a photo and implicate himself with open ideology for a quick label.Gay movies do not need to have actors naked around the house, or too much of sexual scenes, or that they kisses and make love all the time. And Mixed Kebab just proved that, a good one indeed!

smart, beautiful, touching film. not only for story itself but for inspired manner to use different cultural pieces for a precise puzzle. humor, cultural impact, the family relationship, the identity of a foreign community and its circles. and , sure, the love story. after many homosexual movies, its basic virtue is its special freshness. not a lesson, not a speech about sexual minority rights. only a correct exercise about choice and tradition. and about the impact between worlds. last scene is splendid. and the Turkish bath scenes - full of delicate poetry. amusing, bitter, realistic. a good film. and little more.

Starting things off a little too on-the-nose, the film's protagonist (Cem Akkanat) introduces himself via voice-over: "I'm Ibrahim, I'm Turkish. I'm Bram, I'm Belgian. I am a Muslim … and I'm gay." Fortunately, things get less glib fast as we learn more about his world. He's smitten with blond, blue-eyed Kevin (Simon Van Buyten), who works at a restaurant run by his open-minded mother, Marina (Karlijn Sileghem). Though normally a slick pickup artist, Bram (who deals cocaine as a sideline to his job with an upscale caterer) is unsure of Kevin's sexual leanings.At home, however, Bram is Ibrahim, exemplary eldest son to émigré parents (Ergun Simsek, Tanja Cnaepkens) proud to have resisted liberal Western ways more firmly than many back home in Turkey. The thorn in their side is Ibrahim's younger sibling, Furkan (Lukas De Wolf), an angry teen who's turning into a little thug, skipping school and committing robberies with equally rudderless pals. Wise to his brother's hidden life, Furkan outs Ibrahim to take the heat off himself, but the family simply doesn't believe him.That leaves Bram free to invite Kevin along when he goes to Turkey -- a trip intended to confirm his arranged-marriage plans with educated cousin Elif (Gamze Tazim), though that becomes a mere obligatory aside to the two men's joyful consummation of mutual attraction. Their cavorting doesn't go unnoticed by a hotel porter (Hakan Gurkan) whom not-so-chaste Elif has been fooling around with. Presented with evidence, she proves too hellbent on moving West to be swayed from Plan A. But those photos will wreak havoc yet.Mix of comedy, romance, intrigue and religious/cultural tensions is smoothly handled for the most part, even if the film's increasing seriousness feels a little lopsided, particularly when a late instance of turnabout violence prompts all-around reconciliations a mite too conveniently. Nonetheless, "Mixed Kebab" enjoyably balances numerous themes and plot strands with brisk skill, presenting the gay relationship in an upfront manner without ever turning into a solely focused item. Ensemble cast, location choices, and tech/design contributions are all lively and spot-on.