Head On

We saw the movie Head On about a week ago. I meant to post about it at the time.

A marriage of convenience in Hamburg between two troubled Turks changes both their lives in this fine, gritty, contemporary love story. Director Fatih Akin dives deep into Turkish culture and explores the slippery slope of identity and cultural pride faced by Turks who either move to or are born in Germany. Winner of the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival.

The movie was funny in places, sometimes violent, and focusses a lot on cultural pride and expectations. I liked it, because it made me think a little. I disliked parts of it, for reasons of my own.

What annoyed me, though, was unexpected. Sibel Kekilli, who plays Sibel in the movie, was previously a porn star. I spent the entire movie with that thought going through my head, simply because she looked so unlike my stereotypical perception of what a porn star looks like.

I liked her, though. It was an intense role she played, and I think she did it well.

The only rather odd bit of the movie (other than the whole movie itself) was the little bit of English spoken at the end. It just made no sense, considering the rest of the talking throughout, was in German and Turkish.