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Head-On (Gegen die Wand) Germany
'Head-On is an intense, romantic, funny-sad, sometimes harrowing, always moving portrait of cultural estrangement and the power of love.' -The Hollywood Reporter
After a heavy night of drinking, Cahit, a 40-year-old Berliner on a path of self-destruction, drives his car head-on into a building. He enters a psychiatric clinic where he is approached by a young, carefree woman, Sibel, who asks him to marry her. Eager to escape the constraints of her strict Muslim Turkish-German family, Sibel had already attempted suicide and in Cahit she sees a means of freedom. Reluctantly, he agrees to the union and the two move in together. Against the odds, the arrangement works; with regular meals and a tidy flat, Cahit cleans up his act, while Sibel relishes her new life, going clubbing and picking up guys. But problems arise when the two gradually fall in love. Inevitably with love comes complications, and soon jealousy and violence threaten to separate them forever.
The first German film in 18 years to win the coveted Golden Bear at this year's Berlin Film Festival, Head-On is raw and uncompromising, highlighted by the electrifying performances of Birol Ãœnel and Sibel Kekill as the ill-fated lovers.
D/S Fatih Akin P Stefan Schubert, Ralph Schwingel WS Bavaria Film International L German, Turkish w/English subtitles TD 35mm/Col/2003/123mins