Ger Ardo Die Fremde, or When we Leave is a whole lot of western stereotyping of immigrants living in Europe. In this case, a married Turkish young woman with her son separates from her husband who beats and rapes her frequently. This brings to her life a whole lot of other problems, with her family and specially with her father (and mother), who greatly opposes to what he sees as wrong in a traditional society that treats women as a possession of men. It starts with the scenes of beating an raping that will be the main issues during the film, it follows with her struggle to start her own life under the opposition of her family, her father and the older brother being taking the leading roles in subjugating her.I really wouldn't recommend this film for its mostly eurocentric views of immigrants living in Europe.

Turi e. I would like to thank everyone who created this heart breaking movie, you might question the story line if it's true story or not. I have signed up just to tell you that it's true and some women who have suffered like Umay and had experienced much more greater pain and near death experience from there own family. I'm one of them.. a 30 years old woman with 7 years old child. The difference between me and Umya is that when she found the door locked in her family place, she called the police And  I can't ! the difference is she is living in country that respects humans and offer help to anyone in danger while I'm not .. I'm living in the most restricted religious  country that gave men the power in everything to control a women life. I have called violence police unite and they couldn't reach me. I have been threatened by machine gun day and night. I can't take my son and run away cause nothing can be done without guardian permission. My story continues and this movie have given my strength to fight my own battle. The question will remains (am I allowed to take the decision of my son's life.. or  leave my son with my family so he do experience the life of a refugee with his mom ?) Thank you again ..  this movie touched my heart and I'll always remember Umay ..

memory_shell I have seen that the previous reviews on the movie also focused on describing the male-dominant concept existing in very Turkish culture. I will choose not to proceed with that part primarily, but only will share my impressions on the movie itself.However, I should still note that these fictitious series of events filmed are not unfortunately far away from the many, that are actual and real life stories. Positive Impressions: Sibel Kekilli appears to have pulled off a very good job with acting. Her role shares many things in common with the one she had in Head On- Gegen die Wand-Duvara Karsi. Her acting was obviously one of the major factors that would significantly influence the overall score, she definitely did a good job.The script itself is generally very realistic, mostly good at simulating a similar incidence that could have happened. It has errors to a certain level from where I look, which I will share later on. Dynamics of this family, with their sensitivity to gossips within their society and the type of expressions they use to deal with things etc. is projected quite accurately. There is a problem with technical depiction of the family, that I will point later on.Negative Impressions:The family itself, as it has been accurately pointed in one of the other reviews, does not support their suggested background. This corrupted social understanding is righteously attributed in one other reviews "to have become a method even independent from Muslim culture itself". Different backgrounds carry different amounts of this understanding. One family would have minded just a little bit, whereas the second would condemn their daughter at any chance, and a third would decide to "eliminate the problem". The third type of family is usually, if actually not always, belong to a very rural background. This third type of family, pictured in the photo didn't reflect such a background with the way they look or the way they talk. Umay's husband, even an accurate choice with his looks, sounded way too urban in the first minutes of the movie. Umay's mother, while with a rural way of talking in the first half, gradually transformed to a typical Istanbul lady with her pronounciation. The older brother was the best among others, whereas he alone couldn't suffice to keep the picture intact with the suggested background of the family. I believe a family image with sharper edges would have kept the picture more appropriate within the borders of realism.I would like to underline once more that the suggested background exists and is projected just to-the-point with choice of expressions family members use -whereas members themselves technically failed to give the impression of a "third-type family". As pointed once more in another review, you can never expect Turkish men to stop looking ahead and start watching their children while they are praying. While doesn't seem like a big issue for the whole movie, it essentially degrades the charm of the movie on viewers who are familiar with the culture. I have also been thinking several things about the plot, without coming to a final conclusion about what could have been better.* It's kind of complicated with why Umay goes to the sister's wedding... She promised her sister about it but she also recently moved away when her brother found out about where she lives. I'm not perfectly sure with the accuracy of realism here. However, it seems quite possible for a young lady who is so suppressed under clash of cultures to act emotional, as her conscious gets (unfortunately) less and less comfortable about the way she treated her family. * Also, the younger brother slapping Umay in the wedding, who has also been motivated to shoot her has been closer to "making sense" side of the shore during first half of the movie. He actually didn't seem to be really vulnerable to possible manipulations in the house, as he was apparently integrated deeper to the culture of the country. However, he was young and he was also under high supression, which can somehow justify his vulnerability. * I am also not very satisfied with the ending sequence. An older brother waiting with a knife in the corner for the younger brother to shoot the sister with a gun, then taking the job over when the younger fails. It's quite suspicious why he didn't pull the child off before going for some stabbing. I would picture an evening scene in some silent corner of the city, where the kid would be taken away by younger brother to somewhere else and Umay would have been killed by the older one. Finally, I am not perfectly sure if a complete outsider to the whole thing would get the concept and dynamics of the social structures in the movie. The movie itself did quite a good job with it, it's only about imagining reaction of a perfect strange to the culture and this content. I naturally cannot be objective, since I already have knowledge about the whole thing. Even I have noted many negative impressions, at the end of the day (with a Turkish way of saying something), this movie is generally very real. The chain of events, apart from the technical depiction of the family, definitely make sense, since there are unfortunately similar real life incidents continuing to happen every year. It is a good feeling to see an above-the-average attempt on screen for giving a chance to every individual, to leave anything else than their sole humanity outside the theatre and watch -and think.

Radu_A The treatment of Muslim societies in the media in general and in film in particular has been subject to much agenda setting and bias. On the one hand, this has led to frequently arrogant defamation of the cultures of one fifth of humanity, on the other hand, the discourse has helped to highlight problems of Muslim integration which are often ignored under the convenient excuse of multiculturalism. What is more important: respect for other cultures living among us or concern for the plight of the individual subjected to an excessive chauvinism that allows for nothing but submission to it? Feo Aladag's position on this is clear, but she avoids simplifications by sticking to one woman's story, and keeping that story close, while not identical, to the events that inspired it - namely the much publicized 2005 murder of Hatun Sürücü in Berlin, albeit with a surprising twist. Some may find the depictions of a regressive macho cult in German-Turkish families and social life exaggerated, especially since the acting of the supporting cast is a bit shaky at times. But as someone who has lived in a Turkish neighborhood in Berlin, I have to declare it's not. It's disturbingly close to the truth - not the distorted truth of tabloids, but the truth of people I'm close to.The minimalistic approach of the film would usually render it a rather harmless affair, in spite of its controversial subject matter - were it not for Sibel Kekilli's outstanding performance, for which she received, among other awards, best actress at the Tribeca festival. Her heartfelt, knowing and yet forgiving gaze at the suffocating world she lives in speaks of personal experience with the role she portrays. 'When we leave' establishes her as the most exciting German actress of today.It should be noted, by the way, that Islamic law does not condone honorary murders and considers these just as much as crimes as Western law does. Also, this practice is not exclusive to Muslim societies, but used to be widespread in Christian countries as well, where it might still occur as a justification for homicide. But these clarifications could not have been included in this film, which tells one story, and tells it well.