Header image  
World Film Collection  
 
    home
 

Head On (Gegen die Wand)

 

  Written and Directed by Fatih Akin

Germany 2004 / Romance / Drama / 122 min / Color / Dolby  5.1 / 1.85: 1 Widescreen Anamorphic / NTSC /  In German with Optional  Thai and English Subtitles

Birol Unel, Sibel Kekilli, Catrin Striebeck, Given Kirac, Meltem Cumbul, Cem Akin .

German-born Turkish filmmaker Fatih Akin writes and directs the drama Gegen die Wand (Head-On). Set in a working-class Hamburg neighborhood, the story follows two Turkish immigrants who get together in a marriage of convenience. Cahit Tomruk (Birol Unel) is a heavy drinker and a fighter who crashes his car into a wall. While visiting his psychiatrist, Dr. Schiller (Hermann Lause), he meets fellow patient Sibel Guner (Sibel Kekilli). She's desperate to get away from her restrictive family, so she asks Cahit to marry her. Wanting to change his life anyway, Cahit agrees to the arrangement. After their wedding, Sibel celebrates her freedom by drinking, dancing, and having one-night stands. Meanwhile, Cahit carries on an intimate relationship with hair stylist Maren (Catrin Striebeck). Eventually, Cahit and Sibel learn to care for one another after a climactic trip to Istanbul. Head-On won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival in 2004.