A young woman (25 yo) leaves a physically abusive husband in Turkey and returns to Germany with her young son in tow to live with her parents. Unfortunately, she is not out of danger. When she finally takes a new boyfriend, her family basically puts out a contract and instructs her brothers to assassinate her. Some cultures don’t afford much value to women and view them as possessions rather than people.
I wonder if the merging of two disparate cultures is possible without considerable conflict. In the case of this story, “Western” and “Turkish-Muslim” values aren’t compatible. In recent years, we’ve seen quite a few films that are a melds of German and Turkish at the festival. It’s an interesting combination and I’ve really enjoyed the stories.
The performances are competent and believable. The cinematography and general production quality is good. I liked how the choice of musical score, it nicely sets the cultural mood. There’s nothing original about the plot, but if you can get past your anger towards Umay’s neanderthal family, then it’s a compelling story worth seeing.
Venue: Seattle International Film Festival, 2010
Country: Germany
Language: German, Turkish
Genre: Drama