At its core, Gegen die Wand, better known as Head-On to American audiences, is simply a love story. Even though the boy may be a 40 year old depressed drunk and the girl a suicidal, philandering woman, Faith Akin’s take on this conventional narrative of “boy meets girl” still remains simple. It is this simplicity that makes Head-On such a strong film.
Comedy is definitely apparent throughout most of the movie being. However unlike many typical romantic comedies involving a man and a woman falling in love, Head-On goes much more in depth allowing us to empathize better with our characters and using humor as a device to lure us next to them. Like in many similar films, and perhaps even many relationships, there is usually some sort of inner struggle keeping our two heroes from being fully and happily together. That’s why caring about our characters is very important especially in a genre where there is usually not an apparent antagonist.
Without too clever of a story, Head-On succeeds by having a very well written screenplay. There isn’t a single frame throughout the movie that is not telling some sort of story or giving us some type of useful information to carry on the narrative. There are little musical interludes that act as breaks or the end of a chapter of a novel that allows us to reflect upon what happened and helps us to notice the structure of the story. Each act is comprised of smaller acts which themselves have a rising actions and inciting incidents that eventually lead to the climax and resolution of the film. But aside from the love story, Head-On is also about identity and freedom.
Sibel and Cahit are two Turks living in Germany. One struggles with their identity while the other has completely abandoned it and taken on a new one. Sibel reacts to her extremely conservative Turkish family by attempting to do the complete opposite of what they would want from her. Though instead being just a one-dimensional rebel character, Sibel still struggles with fully letting go due to her love and respect for her mother. This creates a more interesting character that is heartbreaking yet adorable at the same time while always on the verge of a suicidal breakdown.
Cahit on the other hand is already living the life that Sibel has been chasing. Although it is not what it appears. Possibly due to the death of his wife, Cahit has been left only with alcoholism and an embarrassing job. We see his day to day in the beginning of the film only before he himself disrupts the status quo by driving into a wall, beginning his journey to freedom. Freedom itself is sought after greatly throughout the movie. Sibel feels that freedom is doing what her family looks down on. She goes out to drink, do drugs and sleep around only to find out that is not real freedom. Cahit has long found his freedom in the bottle. He too left his home for Germany and has taken up an anarchistic, punk lifestyle. The freedom they are truly looking for is their true personal identity.
In the movie, we witness two initially lost and extremely destructive characters transform into more mature and rounded individuals. From a haggard, unkempt punk, Cahit transforms into a respectable, good-looking man upon his release from prison. Sibel herself changed from a longhaired temptress to a Jean Seberg-esque housewife. By the end of the film, our two characters have grown so greatly. Cahit presumably travels back to his hometown of Mersin to reconnect with his Turkish roots. Sibel has matured and is content with her life and understands her role in society as a mother. Due to this maturation, the realistic ending, like much of the movie, is not “predictable” but very believable. It is satisfying despite the melancholy inflicted upon the audience.
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