Head On (aka Gegen die Wand) (Germany) (2004)

[hengcs]

The official website is
www.gegendiewand.de/

-- Earlier in the year, at Berlin Film Festival, it won the Golden Bear top prize.
-- Later in the year, it also garnered the "Best European Film" at the European Film Academy Awards.
;)

What I like about the movie?
-- Most people will be able to identify with the universal theme of the movie. It depicts the realism of what it is like to be a second generation in a foreign country, torn between the East and the West, torn between old and new values, etc. In addition, the main protagonists are also torn between their past and their future! Despite this common theme, the movie is VERY captivating. The audience does NOT know where the movie will go, or how it will end.
-- The movie manages to pepper a seemingly tragic story with comedy.
-- The great performances by the two main protagonists (even though the female did not have much prior acting experience!)
-- Not only is the Turkish music/song that is intermixed with the main plot traditional and interesting, it also parallels the gist of the story.
-- Somewhere near the end, there would be a dialogue in English, although the entire film is in German and Turkish (and a mix of the two). That is an important turning point in the movie, and food for thought: Why did they revert to speaking in English?

What may some people not like?
-- There are some gory but necessary scenes.
-- Again, I believe a lot is lost in the translation (I guess people in Germany will understand some of the humor/joke/cultural differences better).

In sum, I would say, "GO WATCH!"