Gegen die Wand (2004) – Her Review

Eury — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 17:23:57 +0000

Dir. Fatih Akin

Starring Birol Ünel and Sibel Kekilli

Cahit (Ünel), devastated, overloaded on drugs and booze, attempts killing himself by ramming his car headfirst into a brick wall. All he really achieves though, is some nasty bruises, a neck brace and having to visit a psychiatrist. While at the doctor’s office, he meets up with a young girl, Sibel (Kekilli). who is there for the same reason. Finding out that he is Turkish, she asks if he’ll marry her. When he refuses, she slits her wrists … so, heh… of course, he agrees! (I’m rolling my eyes here, so you can visualize my reaction to this).

Cahit is devastated because he has lost his wife who he apparently loved dearly. Sibel, on the otherhand, feels opressed and not allowed any freedom at home, and decides that if her parents think she’s happily married, they will leave her alone. She makes an arrangement with Cahit. She’ll clean his house and make his food then do whatever she wants on the side… which is pretty much f*cking guys. They both overconsume drugs and alcohol and to say that they are really messed up is an understatement.

Warning: Spoilers ahead

Sibel, even after tragedy strikes, gets several chances at shaping up but just keeps getting herself into more trouble. Why? Because she’s a drama queen, because she selfishly only thinks about herself. She may just look like she’s had a sad life, but when you really look at her, all through the movie, she wants what she wants, when she wants it. When she wants to leave home, she childishly cuts her wrists to get her way, She screws around with a bunch of guys, and is only too happy to let Cahit know where she’s off to. When Cahit finally falls in love with her, she won’t have relations with him… She doesn’t want them to become attached (like husband and wife) because that means her personal fun outside the house is over… Of course, this is only until she finds out that he’s screwing around with someone else… oh, well.. now of course, she’s jealous, decides she loves him and wants him. As if that is not tragic enough, Cahit ends up in jail and she promises to wait for him. Here is the perfect moment for her to prove herself, to clean up, to get on track… does she? No.. she moves in with her cousin in Istanbul, is snarky with her, because she doesn’t find her the type of job she wants, still goes out and takes drugs and the moment something appears to be a better opportunity is flashed in front of her eyes, she’s off again, without being in the least appreciative of her cousin’s efforts. Is it over now?… no!! It just goes on and on, and gets worse and worse.

Cahit is not much better until he goes to prison, where he does finally shape up only because he believes she’ll be out there when he gets out, which keeps him hanging on.

Is this a good movie?, yeah.. it has merit and the director did a good job but it’s an extremely hard movie to watch. It’s simply bleak, tragic and as heavy as lead.

Believe me, I know people live through many sad and tragic events in their lives.. it’s hurtful, it’s very hard and you want to rip yourself apart.. but eventually, you have to stop being a martyr…you need to swim, or sink. You have to stop smashing yourself up to prove (even if it’s to yourself) that you loved someone. There comes a point when you have to take back your life.

The song at the end of the movie says “Life is what you make it”… Is this a love story? Sadly, I don’t believe these two people know what love is and they make their lives über-difficult. Sometimes it’s easier to just be unhappy forever, cause that’s what you are used to; It feels comfortable , gets you lots of attention and requires no effort, than to instead, make a sincere and brave attempt at trying to be happy.

This is Her review, you can read His review here

Keywords: Tragedy, Turkish, German

Gegen die Wand (2004) – His Review

Jinx — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 17:22:47 +0000

Dir. Fatih Akin

Starring Birol Ünel and Sibel Kekilli

Gegen die Wand has an 8.1 rating at IMDb. Since I disagree with most of the voters I’m just gonna tell you some of the key things I didn’t like about the movie. Don’t be hatin’.

Mean drunks who are really mean and really drunk don’t interest me.

Woman-beating is something I’d rather not see up close and personal.

The red thread throughout the story is just knots of unresolved plot.

I didn’t like the movie Irreversible. This is the same movie, except less extreme.

I can see why people may enjoy it. It’s a very competent movie, and any movie with good enough craftsmanship finds an audience, if only with movie snobs. That doesn’t really win me over though, when all the characters are unlikeable for one reason or another, and the world they inhabit is harsh and opaque. There’s noone to connect to, and I was left feeling like I was watching Bumfights or something, and I’d rather not.

This is His review, you can read Her review here.

Keywords: Tragedy, Turkish, German

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Gegen die Wand (2004) – Her Review

Gegen die Wand (2004) – His Review

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