The Edge of Heaven (2007)

the audience applauded

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

In Bremen, Germany, elderly widower Ali often visits prostitute Yeter. After she's threatened by religious Turks to quit, she accepts Ali's offer to work for him at home. Her daughter Ayten is studying back in Turkey. Ali kills Yeter in a drunken rage and is imprisoned. Ali's son Nejat Aksu goes to Istanbul to support Ayten. Unbeknownst to him, political activist Ayten is on the run from the police and has arrived in Bremen. Student Lotte falls in love with the homeless Ayten. Lotte's mother Susanne disapproves. Ayten is deported and imprisoned in Turkey.This is a long slough. The beginning left me focused on Yeter. The scene of her with the two Islamic thugs is scary and compelling. Then she dies. She's the only one I actually care about at that point. That's the way the movie goes. It becomes a series of interconnected new characters that I have trouble catching up to. I try to care but the new characters aren't engaging enough. This is trying to be a series of poetic tragedies. I simply stopped caring after Yeter died.

Improbable relations between countries, streets, airs and all, of which we can think vaguely presenting us a constant stance.When I first saw "The Edge of Heaven", this picture had spontaneously penetrated into my sense with its all superficiality, somehow.Regional sites that we experience ostensibly as we exist inside this vita which is, verily, so actual possessing today's articles.Political and sexual involution offers a great coast of a life of togetherness that is ongoing.Just happen in this picture and contact to grief, reprieve, jolt, expectations and complexity.

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

Aside from the outstanding work of the director and whole movie crew, one more thing can be said; the name is "F-a-t-i-h" Akin not 'faith'. And it means "the conqueror" in Turkish. :)Ironically enough it's the name given to F-a-t-i-h Sultan Mehmet Khan after he conquered Constantinapolis and have built a new city over the 7 hills of the metropolis that is "Istanbul". A historic turning point when once an ancient and eastern civilization marked its majestic presence in the west. Since then Turks literally became more and more of western civilization, not by only being influenced by but by influencing, 'manipulating', 'corrupting' and 'contributing' to it. :) Now Fa-tih conquers all cinemas of Europe with the themes in or about Istanbul, themes about east and west, themes of Europe and Asia, themes about Turks, Romanians, Bulgars, Greek and German people... A truly Turkish character, combining, contradicting, fighting or getting along fine with east or west. ;) Truly life and his 'fate' (but not his faith :P) has a solid sense of humor. :) Go F-a-t-i-h the conqueror! ;)P.S. Someone should warn IMDb about the automatic correction feature at least here on this page and have it disabled.