"Auf der anderen Seite" means "on the other side", or "on the other hand", and in Faith Akin's latest film we see two parallel narratives develop, overlap and intertwine until they very much become one.
While some other viewers seem to have found the film's reliance on coincidence enervating, I found that it was a classical poetic device. As in all great art, the question is not whether the events are convincing, but whether the people stuck in these events are convincing, and in Akim's film they are.
What can you say about a film with a cast as strong as this? Hanna Schygulla, especially, offers a stunning performance, but the rest of the ensemble is also very impressive.
Finally the film is a meditation on what divides cultures and what divides the generations. A Turkish son finds it in his heart to forgive his father, a German mother decides to forgive and help her daughter's Turkish lover.
In order to make it to the other side, beyond anger and towards understanding and forgiveness, you need to overcome yourself and be open to what the world can give even when it has taken so much away. Faith Akin knows how to tell this story in a way that is both heartbreaking and uplifting. A great film and an important film.
While some other viewers seem to have found the film's reliance on coincidence enervating, I found that it was a classical poetic device. As in all great art, the question is not whether the events are convincing, but whether the people stuck in these events are convincing, and in Akim's film they are.
What can you say about a film with a cast as strong as this? Hanna Schygulla, especially, offers a stunning performance, but the rest of the ensemble is also very impressive.
Finally the film is a meditation on what divides cultures and what divides the generations. A Turkish son finds it in his heart to forgive his father, a German mother decides to forgive and help her daughter's Turkish lover.
In order to make it to the other side, beyond anger and towards understanding and forgiveness, you need to overcome yourself and be open to what the world can give even when it has taken so much away. Faith Akin knows how to tell this story in a way that is both heartbreaking and uplifting. A great film and an important film.