Head-On

Head-On (German: Gegen die Wand, literally Against the Wall; Turkish: Duvara Karşı) is a 2004 film written and directed by Fatih Akın.

Synopsis

Cahit Tomruk (Birol Ünel) is a Turkish German in his 40s. He has given up on life after the death of his wife and seeks solace in cocaine and alcohol. One night, he intentionally drives his car head-on into a wall, and barely survives. At the psychiatric clinic he is taken to, Sibel Güner (Sibel Kekilli), another Turkish German who has tried to commit suicide, approaches him. She asks Cahit to carry out a formal marriage with her so that she can break out of the strict rules of her conservative family. Cahit is initially turned off by the idea, but then he agrees to take part in this plan.

As Sibel tells him frankly that she prefers an independent sex life, they live as roommates with separate private lives. They eventually fall in love, and things take a different turn as Cahit kills one of Sibel's former lovers out of anger and thus he has to go to prison. While Cahit is in prison, Sibel flees her family and goes to Istanbul to stay with her cousin Selma (Meltem Cumbul)—a divorced woman who manages a hotel. Sibel accepts a job as a maid in Selma's hotel, but finds her new life to be as restrictive as prison. She leaves Selma's apartment to live with a bartender who provides drugs and alcohol. Eventually, he rapes her and throws her out. Roaming the streets that night, she baits three men into beating her up. One of them stabs her and they leave her for dead.

Several years later, Cahit travels to Istanbul upon his release, hoping to find Sibel. Initially, Selma refuses to tell Cahit where Sibel is, but informs him that Sibel is in a long-term relationship and now has a daughter. (The film does not show us her recovery from the rape and assault.) Cahit waits in a hotel for Sibel's call. It eventually comes. He asks her to run away with him, and she agrees to, but never shows up. The film ends with Cahit on a bus, presumably travelling to Mersin, the city where he was born.

Awards

• "Best Film" and the "Audience Award" at the 2004 European Film Awards on December 11 in Barcelona, Spain.
• The Golden Bear for Best Film at 54th Berlin International Film Festival) on February 14, 2004.
• The Golden Prize for Best Actress at the Deutscher Filmpreis on June 18, 2004.
• The Quadriga Prize on October 3, 2004 in Berlin.
• The Silver Mirror Award for the Best Movie from the South at the Oslo Film Festival on October 16, 2004.
• The Audience Prize at the 9th Festival de Cine on November 6-13 in Sevilla, Spain.
• The Golden Bambi for the best shooting star at the 56th Bambi-Verleihung on November 19 in Hamburg, Germany
• the Golden Gilde prize for the best German movie of 2003-2004 at the Leipzig Film Fair.
• The Goya Award for Best European Film of 2004, on January 30, 2005 in Madrid, Spain.

External links

• (German) Official site
• Head-On at the Internet Movie Database
• Article on Head-On at BrokenProjector.com
• Essay by Katy Karpfinger for New Linear Perspectives