Head-On (Gegen die Wand) (2004)

Head-On (Gegen die Wand) (2004)

R

This raw, punk drama about a star-crossed love in modern Germany is as timely now as it was when it came out

The Very Best

9.3

Movie

Germany, Turkey
English, German, Turkish
Drama, Romance
2004
FATIH AKIN
Adam Bousdoukos, Aysel Iscan, Birol Ünel
117 min

9.3

Kim

What it's about

With the intention to break free from the strict familial restrictions, a suicidal young woman sets up a marriage of convenience with a forty-year-old addict, an act that will lead to an outburst of envious love.

The take

Winner of a Golden Bear and a slew of awards at the European Film Awards in the early noughties, Head-on is named after the suicide attempt of Cahit Tomruk (played by the late Birol Ünel), a Turkish-born German in his mid-40s. At the psychiatric clinic where he is treated, he meets the equally damaged Sibel Güner who is also of Turkish descent. (The first ever feature film of famous German actress Sibel Kekilli, who you might know from Game of Thrones.) Sibel persuades him to marry her in an attempt to break away from her traditional-minded parents.

If you think this plot summary was tough stuff, it gets even grimmer from there. Directed by famous German filmmaker Fatih Akın, the intensity with which Kekilli and Ünel perform the character's unhinged self-hatred is as raw as it gets. Head-on is a brutal, gritty, and heart-wrenching story about the violence of love and hedonism – and the struggle of third-generation Turkish immigrants in Germany.

Active Streaming Deals

$50 Off DirecTV Stream

$74.99

$64.99

Active Streaming Deals

69% Off NordVPN + 3 months Free

$14.99

$4.99

Active Streaming Deals

50% Off Sling

$40

$20

Active Streaming Deals

49% Off ExpressVPN

$12.95

$6.67

Comments

Great film, great music, great actors!

Add a comment

What did you think? Who should watch it?

UP NEXT 

UP NEXT 

UP NEXT 

Frybread Face and Me (2023)

A gorgeous and tender coming-of-age addition to the Indigenous New Wave

8.0

Nightmare Alley (2021)

A psychological thriller of the highest quality, masked as an adult fairytale, by the great Guillermo del Toro

9.0

Last Call for Istanbul (2023)

A seemingly generic Turkish romance travel film, until it gets into its second half

7.0

Cold War (2018)

A quiet Polish masterpiece with ravishing music and dazzling visuals

9.2

Victoria (2015)

Filmed in one continuous take and in real time on the streets of Berlin, ‘Victoria’ immerses the viewer in a heart-stopping drama

9.8

Jerichow (2009)

An erotic neo-noir thriller set in broad daylight by German cinema's finest

8.5

Pearl (2022)

The technicolor slasher follow-up to Ti West's X is all about female rage and love for the movies

8.1

Faraway (2023)

A charming middle-aged romance where a mother finds solace in her mother’s Croatian roots

7.4

The Collini Case (2019)

A very satisfying German legal drama

7.6

Things to Come (2016)

A beautiful, bittersweet portrait of resilience

8.5

Curated by humans, not algorithms.

agmtw logo

© 2023 agoodmovietowatch, all rights reserved.