Post by Brad Nelson on Jul 6, 2020 8:39:59 GMT -8
Here’s a Kraut/Turkish film that is a good example of my prime requirement for a movie: It must have a compelling story. And I don’t particularly care if there are lesbians, Moslems, etc., who are characters in the story.
The Edge of Heaven splices together two stories. Extreme coincidence? Sure, but coincidences do happen.
The first story is of a Turkish man and his son who live in Germany. The father is a bit of a louse who likes his hookers. The son is a modernized (I would say “mythical”) Muslim who has integrated into German society. He works as a professor in a German university teaching history and speaks perfect German.
The other intersecting story (they will intersect eventually) is of a somewhat nasty young Turkish woman who is a member of a terrorist group in Turkey. Or at least they have been defined as a terrorist group by Turkish officials. After a bit of a skirmish with police on the streets, the chick escapes to Germany and enters the country illegally.
There’s not much more I can say about it without giving away the plot. But this film is from 2007 and, quite surprisingly, there are good Muslims and bad Muslims. There are even good lesbians and bad lesbians. Or at least this is not overtly a pro-Muslim/pro-lesbian film. It’s more of a film that has Muslims and lesbians as characters.
The excellent aspect is the ability of writer/director Fatih Akin to tell a story — an art lost on 90% of writers and directors. Maybe this movie is or isn’t for you, but there can be no doubt about the skill involved in getting to the nugget of a story and telling it in a way that is compelling moment-to-moment, even if each moment isn’t filled with car-crashes and f-bombs.
However, one reviewer notes:
Well, he got one right. And I’ll have to see if I can find his Head-On.
The Edge of Heaven splices together two stories. Extreme coincidence? Sure, but coincidences do happen.
The first story is of a Turkish man and his son who live in Germany. The father is a bit of a louse who likes his hookers. The son is a modernized (I would say “mythical”) Muslim who has integrated into German society. He works as a professor in a German university teaching history and speaks perfect German.
The other intersecting story (they will intersect eventually) is of a somewhat nasty young Turkish woman who is a member of a terrorist group in Turkey. Or at least they have been defined as a terrorist group by Turkish officials. After a bit of a skirmish with police on the streets, the chick escapes to Germany and enters the country illegally.
There’s not much more I can say about it without giving away the plot. But this film is from 2007 and, quite surprisingly, there are good Muslims and bad Muslims. There are even good lesbians and bad lesbians. Or at least this is not overtly a pro-Muslim/pro-lesbian film. It’s more of a film that has Muslims and lesbians as characters.
The excellent aspect is the ability of writer/director Fatih Akin to tell a story — an art lost on 90% of writers and directors. Maybe this movie is or isn’t for you, but there can be no doubt about the skill involved in getting to the nugget of a story and telling it in a way that is compelling moment-to-moment, even if each moment isn’t filled with car-crashes and f-bombs.
However, one reviewer notes:
After his astounding one-two punch HEAD-ON (2004) and this, in retrospect, the following decade surprisingly hasn't panned out as a substantial acclivity for this wunderkind cineaste (he was only 34 at that time) as one might have postulated, his track record after THE EDGE OF HEAVEN is a lukewarm comedy SOUL KITCHEN (2009), an atrocious misfire THE CUT (2014) and his latest GOODBYE BERLIN (2016), almost gets no traction upon its release in the international front. Will Akin find his mojo back? It will be a crying shame if a filmmaker of his credentials cannot achieve something significantly great.
Well, he got one right. And I’ll have to see if I can find his Head-On.