oncel_ilhan The storyline, entertaining trip from Hamburg to Istanbul and the performance of the cast appealed to me.Charming Bleibtreu travels from Hamburg to Istanbul to find love. The questions: Will he be able to find it? Will he find it as he expected? The journey from Hamburg to Istanbul is an adventure, that includes traveling in a lorry, ship and a stolen car. During traveling Bleibtreu and Paul meet strange, interesting and harmful ppl. They also enjoy new cultures.Bleibtreu plays very well. He is especially successful while he is showing his feelings for the Turkish angel. His performance was also outstanding as he having conversations with Paul. Üner plays also great. She lets the audience believe she is an angel.Even though the end was predictable, I enjoyed watching this movie. Yes, you predict what will happen in the end. But you just don't know how it will happen. And you want to see it. However continuously sth surprising happens. Thats why you can be surprised all the time.If you want to have a sweet trip from Hamburg to Istanbul, give this movie a try!

Bladerunner• It is very nice to see how a director from a country besides the U.S. creates a romantic comedy. This type of film isn't what one would expect from Germany, and perhaps that contributes to its charm. Certainly Christiane Paul who portrays the title's namesake is luminous. Every frame she is in, she lights up the screen. It has been said that they success of a romantic comedy depends on the audience falling in love with the main characters as they are falling in love on screen. If this is true, then both Christiane and Moritz Bleibtreu (who plays Daniel Bannier) do a marvelous job of seducing the audience, both are very likable and by the second reel you are cheering for them to be together.The plot has the basic framework of a road movie/romantic comedy. Daniel is closed off and stuffy, and Juli is the free spirit who is his guide to individual freedom and expression. Daniel meets her at a street fair, and she immediately recognizes him as "the one" who is his destiny. She sells him a ring with the symbol of the sun that is supposed to unite him with his one true love who will also be wearing a solar symbol. Daniel doesn't know it at the time, but Juli has a tattoo of the sun on the small of her back. That night he meets a pretty young woman named Melek who is carrying a backpack bearing a picture of the sun. He takes this as a sign and pursues her. At drinks together she informs him that she is meeting someone under a well-known bridge in Istanbul. He is disappointed that she is meeting someone who she might be in love with, but after they part ways he decides to go to Istanbul and meet her under the bridge on the night of her meeting with this other man.Meanwhile Juli, having seen Daniel and Melek together becomes depressed and decides to leave the city. As she stands at the crossroads of the highway, she says her goodbyes to her friend and states that she will go wherever the next ride takes her, no matter where they are going. Sure enough, Daniel stops for her and they begin their journey together. Along the way, Juli falls even further in love with Daniel even though he is on a quest to meet another woman. As they make their way, the usual kinds of twists and turns that one expects in a comedic road movie crop up: the car breaks down, they lose all their money and are forced to depend on the kindness of a quirky bunch of characters to complete their journey. All the while Daniel is learning to let go of the very tight grip he has on his life. As he loosens his hold his heart also opens to Juli, and when she leaves him to complete his odyssey alone (an act of unselfish love, and an indicator that Juli is learning lessons herself), he finally realizes that the girl he truly wanted was with him all the while.Near the end of his trek he runs into the very girl he is going to Istanbul to meet and finds her very happy to see him. Here he must make a choice to stay with Melek, who obviously wants him to stay, or complete his adventure to the bridge where Juli may or may not be waiting for him. I'll leave you to find out the rest, but rest assured there will be no unhappy ending here.As Hollywood tries to come up with increasingly improbable scenarios to breathe new life into the romantic comedy, German director Faith Akin follows a familiar path and allows the heart of these characters to draw us into the story. The exotic places they travel through becomes a separate character as well, and Akin allows the beauty and mystery of these locals to seduce as much as the main characters do.The charm of this movie is in the reminder that humans the world over feel the same excitement and happiness when falling in love. Akin wisely relies on the desire each of us has to feel that love, and the delight of seeing others experience that joy as well. It will never grow boring watching two likable characters fall in love, especially when they are willing to fight, trek thousands of miles, and endure any hardship to be with the one they love. With In July, Akin spins a wonderful tale of love, growth and discovery. You won't go wrong spending a couple of hours with this film falling in love yourself.

MartinHafer This was a sweet comedy that provided lots of entertainment with only a few wrong turns. First the wrong turns. I wasn't exactly thrilled by the notion that the overly controlled school teacher needed to loosen up by smoking some pot. Also, it seemed relatively easy to determine WHO the main character would fall in love with in the end of the film after only shortly after the movie began. HOWEVER, despite these minor problems, I really liked this film. The acting and pacing were excellent and although you had a strong idea where the movie would end, the actually journey there took a lot of surprising twists and turns. The end result is an excellent "chick flick" that will please both men and women alike.

major_thoms I came across Faith Akin's movie "Im Juli" /("In July") by pure chance and the fact that it had Moritz Bleibtreu (from "Run Lola Run" fame) in it made it appeal to me since I liked Moritz in previous other movies.The movie tells the story of a young teacher (Moritz) who thinks he had met the love of his life in a Turkish girl and follows her to Istanbul/Turkey. At the same time his real true love, Juli (Christiane Paul) travels with him, saves him and silently tries to win his heart over.In the end everything finds it's solution and climax beneath the Posporus bridge in Istanbul - the meeting point.The movie is well paced, doesn't have big special effects, but tells a wonderful story. Faith Akin's latest movie "Gegen die Wand" /("Head on") made him internationally aware to critics and a bigger audience.Unfortunately unlike with "Gegen die Wand", there is no international release for "Im Juli" - so the movie only has German language and subtitles...