lasttimeisaw A German filmmaker with Turkish extraction, Faith Akin's fifth feature, a Cannes' BEST SCREENPLAY winner, THE EDGE OF HEAVEN is a Bremen-Istanbul bilateral drama, unfolds in a triptych structure, delineates the vagaries of destiny and incidents impinged upon three parent- offspring pairs: a Turkish professor of German literature Nejat Aksu (Davrak) and his widowed pensioner father Ali (Kurtiz) living in Bremen, the latter, meets a middle-aged Turkish prostitute Yeter (Köse), and decides to pay her to live in with him as his exclusive possession, Yeter misses her daughter Ayten (Yesilçay) in Istanbul, whom she hasn't been in contact for years and later we will learn that she is now a young anti-government firebrand, the final pair is Lotte (Ziolkowska), a German college student who falls in love with Ayten and her mother Susanne (Schygulla), who doesn't quite approve of their lesbian romance and Ayten's radical political stance. With each of the triptych respectively named as: Yeter's death, Lotte's death, and the eponymous The Edge of Heaven, Akin presages the tragedies in the first two segments like a hanging rock, leaving audience hooked by the impending demise, it is a bold move to dispel suspense and foreground the inevitability in its fair-paced narrative which evinces of Akin's more restrained sobriety over his material and the disparities underlying the two very different countries (both segments opens with protests, one in Bremen, another in Istanbul, their different after-effects tellingly betray Akin's political inclination). But, what renders wholesome of the film's slightly fortuity-heavy story is Akin's reflective and unflinchingly humane dissection of his dramatis personae, they are all the garden-variety type, each tries their best to get hold of their lives in the best possible way, and each is undermined by their foibles, but in its praise of love (Ayten and Lotte's intense love transcends their different mother tongues), family (Yeter's death separates Nejat and Ali, whereas Lotte's death unites Susanne with Ayten), understanding (Susanne's lofty gesture to the girl who obliquely causes the death of her daughter), and forgiveness (the childhood memory prompts Nejat to look for Ali in the end), that finale really vouches for the film's title, heaven is not afar in spite of there is turmoil prevalent on the surface, humanity can prevail. Wonderful performances from the central sextet, in the (borderline) leading part, Davrak emanates an aura of soothing kindness often outdoes what he is required by the script and Turkish name-star Yesilçay mounts a great deal of rawness and bluntness in her deglamorized commitment, whereas Köse and Ziolkovska, due to their characters' preordained fate, are the ones to proffer ample sympathy. As for the two veterans, the late Turkish triple-threat Kurtiz trades on a spot-on brazenness of senescent loneliness and obstinacy, and Schygulla, staggeringly holds court as the redeeming soul who gets over from a sad bereavement and carries on with a positive vibe, which is so powerful and contagious, that fly-on-the-wall observation of her wailing in the hotel room is tremendously devastating to watch. After his astounding one-two punch HEAD-ON (2004) and this, in retrospect, the following decade surprisingly hasn't panned out as a substantial acclivity for this wunderkind cineaste (he was only 34 at that time) as one might have postulated, his track record after THE EDGE OF HEAVEN is a lukewarm comedy SOUL KITCHEN (2009), an atrocious misfire THE CUT (2014) and his latest GOODBYE BERLIN (2016), almost gets no traction upon its release in the international front. Will Akin find his mojo back? It will be a crying shame if a filmmaker of his credentials cannot achieve something significantly great.

mithil293 In most movies the ending does condense into one specifically focused perspective on which the whole 90+ minutes of a movie revolves. But what happens when there are other considerations compacted into a single film and presented eloquently to a viewer. Well it doesn't matter much to me because for me the movies are not just about taking home the scholarly part of it. I try to dig deep into a movie to decipher the intricate relationships, the underplaying emotions and unusual behavioural metamorphosis of a individual. This I experienced watching 'The edge of heaven', a Turkish/ German collaboration directed by Faith Akin.Nejat living with his widowed father in Germany is befuddled when he discovers that his father has bought a prostitute to live with him. The confusion turns to empathy when he learns of prostitute's charitable work towards her daughters education and subsequently rage when his father is found responsible of the prostitute death. He then takes to Turkey, his home country to help out the daughter of prostitute, Ayten Ozturk. Meanwhile running adjacently is the story of Ayten, rebel in her own country travels to Germany to find her mother as she finds her purpose helpless in Turkey. In Germany Ayten befriends a German girl, Lotte and is involved in a deeply romantic relationship thereafter. Being a illegal immigrant to Germany, Ayton is deported back to Turkey as a prisoner. Disapproving of her mother, Lotte travels to Turkey to lends Ayton her support and her help in release. From this point onwards the two stories start to converge and this entanglement bring out wide range of emotion from shock to humility.Let me start by saying that I found the father-son played out combo was pleasantly watchable. I left a chuckle when I heard the father make an indecent proposal to the prostitute. The paranoia that sets in the fathers head when he holds on to the notion that his father and his new investment are having an affair brings out the insecureness of the character. Although it's said that nejat is half orphan since 3 months of his birth, it is intriguing to note the contrastingly diametrical behaviour- father who is bold, brazen, hasty albeit loving to his son, son who is calm, collective and well read to handle a particular situation. The story of Ayton is more complex and involves a web of randomness. The soft, caring side of Ayton comes to the fore in the presence of Lotte, otherwise it's just intrepid, no-nonsense straight to point attitude. Some of the scenes are well incorporated like the boarding of corpses on airplane, hint of subtlety in the death scenes of the movie. The scene of gifting novel is another one which makes perfect sense in real life, like novel we take things and people for granted. This movie is loaded with deeply thought out characters and one seems to link and like the characters as they move forward in the movie. Being the lead I thought the performances by Nurgül Yesilçay and Baki Davrak were impressive. Also the characters Patrycia Ziolkowska and Nursel Köse also complemented their portaryals with enough honesty. But if you ask me the characters of Tuncel Kurtiz and Hanna Schygulla were most watchable because of the content they were given and the amazing performances that came through it. This movie is fairly a complex story, it keeps the stories well steered in their narration. Faith Akin has given us one more incredible piece of art to dwell on. Don't miss this onewww.mindbugged.wordpress.com

Sindre Kaspersen German screenwriter, producer and director F Akin's fifth feature film which he wrote and co-produced with Andreas Thiel, Jeanette Würl and Klaus Maeck, is the second part of a planned trilogy called "Love, death and the devil" which was preceded by "Head-On" (2004). It premiered In competition at the sixtieth Cannes Film Festival in 2007 and is a Germany-Italy-Turkey co-production which was shot on location in Hamburg and Bremen in Germany, in Taksim and Kadiköy in Istanbul and at the Black Sea in Trabzon in Turkey. It tells the story about Ali Aksu, a widowed and retired Turkish immigrant who lives in Bremen. One day Ali meets a Turkish prostitute named Yeter whom he grows affectionate about. Ali is looking for a partner and offers Yeter to pay her the same amount that she earns working at the brothel if she comes to live with him. Yeter agrees and moves in with Ali, but after having met his German son, a professor who lives in Hamburg, Yeter gets into an argument with Ali that leads to him being sent to jail and his son traveling to Istanbul in order to find Yeter's 27-year-old daughter Ayten whom he thinks is a student. Acutely and engagingly directed by filmmaker F Akin, this humane and compassionately narrated fictional tale which is set in Germany and Turkey during the early 21st century, draws an incisive portrayal of a young Turkish woman who is searching for her mother, the relationship between a German professor and his father and the relationship between a German student and her mother. While notable for it's naturalistic milieu depictions, the fine production design by art director Sirma Bradley and production designer Tamo Kunz, cinematography by Swiss cinematographer Rainer Klausmann and editing by English-born film editor Andrew Bird, this humorous, tragic and romantic story depicts several studies of character and examines themes like family relations, cultural clash, forgiveness, death and love. This universal, character-driven and finely tuned European film which has the lives of six characters intertwining, contains a fine score by German DJ Shantel and is impelled and reinforced by it's fragmented narrative structure and the empathic and involving acting performances by Turkish actor, playwright and producer Tuncel Kurtiz, Turkish-German actor Baki Davrak, Turkish stage and film actress Nurgül Yesilcay, Turkish-born German actress Nursel Köse and German actress and singer Hanna Schygulla. A multifaceted and invariably moving drama which gained, among numerous other awards, the award for Best Screenplay at the sixtieth Cannes Film Festival in 2007, the European Film Award for European Screenwriter at the 20th European Film Awards in 2007 and the NSFC Award for Best Supporting actress Hanna Schygulla at the 43rd National Society of Film Critics Awards in 2009.

platinumpyrrs This movie has some powerful scenes. Lotte running through the streets in the stark sunlight, chasing someone she does not know because she is so in love. Found that unforgettable. Had not seen the actress playing Lotte before; she has a great face for cinema. Great casting here, all the actors faces under the microscope, most actors faces showing depth and compassion. Especially Yeter and Lotte. Also, Susanne and Nejat, the ones who find mutually satisfying relationship in conclusion. My kind of movie, I must say. Believable, honest, emotional, driven by the longing of the human heart.PS. Also liked the scene where Nejat is driving through tunnels; the first one has light at the end. Then he enters one that is dark and the scene shifts. He is taking a risk to change his life away from the mundane, to find connections to his heart. He is a likable character, balanced and patient, but also brave. Also liked Yeter's deep dignity under her protective surface. Actress playing Yeter is superb on the bus when accosted by two #$$*oles. Memorable.