Reves Center for International Studies Events

Location

Giles Hall (Randolph Complex), 1st floor
500B Ukrop Way
Williamsburg, VA 23185Map this location

Gegen die Wand (Head-On, by Fatih Akin, 2004) is a passionate and erotic love story between two self-destructive individuals who are forced into a marriage of convenience only to find love can be a reason to live. Cahit is a thirty-something lost soul, drinking and snorting himself into oblivion over the loss of his beloved wife. He lives in a slum, spends all his time in sleazy bars getting beaten up for inappropriate behavior until one night he drunkenly drives into a wall and ends up in a hospital where he 'meets' Sibel, a young woman who has again attempted suicide as an escape from her strict family's prevention of her having a life. Hearing Cahit is Turkish, Sibel nonchalantly suggests they 'marry': Sibel's only way to escape her family would be to find a Turkish husband. Though grossly mismatched, the two agree to an 'open marriage', they satisfy Sibel's family, and move in together. Sibel cooks and cleans Cahit's hovel, and then goes out and sleeps around. This arrangement eventually causes problems for each of them and Sibel moves to Istanbul to escape the horrors of the life she has chosen. Once alone, Cahit is confronted with the reality that Sibel is the only path to salvation for his tragic life and the story proceeds - or rather speed drives - its way to a heartrending finish.