Thursday, February 25, 2010

Head-On - 2004 - 4 Stars

Actors: Birol Unel, Sibel Kekelli
Director: Fatih Akin

Head-On is the sort of meandering foreign fare that bites off more than it can chew. Set in Munich, it involves a Turkish man marrying a Turkish woman as a favor so that she can leave her parents' home. Numerous complications arise from the agreement.

I always mistrust my approval of foreign films because they often involve cultures with which I am totally unfamiliar. As a result, it's impossible for me to declare things trite or improbable with regard to character interactions. Head-On certainly strains credulity at many points, intentionally so, but it tells a fascinating story of love and jealousy.

1 comment:

  1. i had this same foreign film problem last night watching Ajami. (new israeli movie. sort of a palestinian boyz in the hood.) the big boss guy is all pissed off when he realizes his daughter is seeing this young hood in his employ--which is comprehensible enough. but then big boss guy, while yelling at daughter, says, "he's muslim, we're christian; you knew it could never work out." and i'm like, wow, so they're christian.... which i'm betting would not have been news to the intended audience.

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