'Head On'

An interesting chronicle of the Middle Eastern expatriate living in the west. But it's not always the United States and it's not always some country of friction like Iraq or Pakistan.

It's Turks living in Germany. The divide between cultures and between generations is wide. I think the generational divide between devout parents and kids that embrace the carnal nature of youth and modern society is deeper and vast than any other strait.

Sibel is a young, beautiful Turkish woman living in Hamburg under the iron thumb of her Muslim parents. She proposes a marriage of convenience with Cahit, an older, deadbeat drunk who has revoked all Turkishness from his life, divorcing himself from his homeland.

Sibel puts little value in their arrangement and lives a libertine partying every night and sleeping with countless men. Cahit finds that he's actually in love with Sibel, and winds up accidentally killing one of her former lovers in a bar.

He goes to prison and Sibel moves back to Turkey having been disowned by her family. There, her life spirals rapidly as she gets addicted to hard drugs and winds up getting raped passed out on a bar floor. She picks a fight with three guys and is stabbed and left for dead.

We then find Cahit out of prison and seeking Sibel. We learn she has her life together and raising a child. The pair have one last affair. Cahit leaves for his hometown hoping Sibel shows up at the bus station to join him. He goes home alone.

It's a really cool story and it's very well acted especially with Birol Ünel (Cahit) and Sibel Kekilli (Sibel) who absolutely kill their roles. I also think its worth note that Kekilli is a former porn actress. Which might explain her being so good in the sex scenes.