Since this is my first IMDb review, I am starting it with Head On. It is the only movie that I watched once through and when the credits rolled I just sat there, numbed, and decided to watch it again, and hit play and watched it a second time. I don't think that I even got up to go to the bathroom. I couldn't move. I didn't want to move. I just wanted to watch this again.There is just 'something' about this film. The crazy intro, the lead actor that you wonder the whole time if he's just some alcoholic that they pulled off the street to play the part, the eclectic combination of Turkish and German mashed as one, the genuine love, the genuine hate, the love of life, the desire of death, the humanness of it all. With out a doubt, this is a movie to watch. Again.

My class and I watched HEAD-ON, truly expecting some illumination of the Turkish subculture co-existence with the German community. Other than Germans mixing it up at clubs, little interaction remained. Indeed, after the promising opening, things started downhill at the hospital where the main characters met. This film was not upsetting in a heartfelt nor philosophical way, but was crude and tedious. Some students of many years left our cinema society never to return! I'm writing this because I felt absolutely duped by the positive reviews I encountered before putting this film on the semester syllabus. In terms of my teaching role, this was the most embarrassing selection I ever picked.

I haven't watched such a great movie for a long time and it is really great to see that this is a Turkish movie. After Nuri Bilge Ceylan's success with Uzak in Cannes Film Festival, Faith Akin made a very successful move in contributing to Turkish cinema. First of all, the movie explains the life of the Turkish immigrants in Germany in a perfect way. We see how they cannot be neither German nor Turkish anymore. They are stuck in between and they act as punks. For instance, it is really true that most of the young Turkish people in Germany cannot speak Turkish, like Cahit. We also see the ridiculous pressure of Sibel's family: For instance, while her married brother threatens&beats her whenever she has a boyfriend, he and his friends can comfortably speak about how they sleep with prostitutes! Also the cast is very good, especially Sibel Kekilli and Birol Unel. I loved the scene where we can see the smile in Sibel's eyes in the amusement park: she is so much in love... In addition, there are so many things to say about the movie.. The story is a very striking one itself. The hopelessness of the characters in a world without love and moral values are explained so well-without making it dramatic. Also, Sibel's life in Istanbul, her cousin's life-like many of us: still single and waiting to be promoted!- are also judgements beside the main genre. The music is also very nice, with Depeche Mode and also traditional Turkish music. Faith Akin has really made a good job.. The script is excellent and the scenes are all pieces of artwork. I wish the best for him and all the cast and I hope to see movies perfect like this in the future too...

This film is a tragic Turkish love story set in Germany. Cahit and Sibel are two lonely souls trying to find an escape who incidentally meet at a psychiatric hospital after attempting suicide.Cahit, having lost the love of his life is lost and thinking that he has nothing else to live for, he is constantly drinking and one night drives his car into a brick wall. Sibel is a young woman imprisoned by tradition and family. In her attempts to free herself from their prison, tries to take her own life.In a bid to remove her family's (especially her father and brother) stronghold over her, she coerces Cahit to marry her. The marriage is a convenience where they both see each other as roommates and pretend to be a couple when Sibel's family are around. However when they begin to know each other better, they start to fall in love, and that's when the trouble begins.The film begins with a band of Turkish folk singers singing what I can only assume is a love song. The band appears several times during the film and set the mood for the coming chapters.This film is a tragic love story that has so many twists and turns and does not have a Hollywood ending. However, the photography is superb and the storyline is very touching.