lasttimeisaw A German filmmaker with Turkish extraction, Faith Akin's fifth feature, a Cannes' BEST SCREENPLAY winner, THE EDGE OF HEAVEN is a Bremen-Istanbul bilateral drama, unfolds in a triptych structure, delineates the vagaries of destiny and incidents impinged upon three parent- offspring pairs: a Turkish professor of German literature Nejat Aksu (Davrak) and his widowed pensioner father Ali (Kurtiz) living in Bremen, the latter, meets a middle-aged Turkish prostitute Yeter (Köse), and decides to pay her to live in with him as his exclusive possession, Yeter misses her daughter Ayten (Yesilçay) in Istanbul, whom she hasn't been in contact for years and later we will learn that she is now a young anti-government firebrand, the final pair is Lotte (Ziolkowska), a German college student who falls in love with Ayten and her mother Susanne (Schygulla), who doesn't quite approve of their lesbian romance and Ayten's radical political stance. With each of the triptych respectively named as: Yeter's death, Lotte's death, and the eponymous The Edge of Heaven, Akin presages the tragedies in the first two segments like a hanging rock, leaving audience hooked by the impending demise, it is a bold move to dispel suspense and foreground the inevitability in its fair-paced narrative which evinces of Akin's more restrained sobriety over his material and the disparities underlying the two very different countries (both segments opens with protests, one in Bremen, another in Istanbul, their different after-effects tellingly betray Akin's political inclination). But, what renders wholesome of the film's slightly fortuity-heavy story is Akin's reflective and unflinchingly humane dissection of his dramatis personae, they are all the garden-variety type, each tries their best to get hold of their lives in the best possible way, and each is undermined by their foibles, but in its praise of love (Ayten and Lotte's intense love transcends their different mother tongues), family (Yeter's death separates Nejat and Ali, whereas Lotte's death unites Susanne with Ayten), understanding (Susanne's lofty gesture to the girl who obliquely causes the death of her daughter), and forgiveness (the childhood memory prompts Nejat to look for Ali in the end), that finale really vouches for the film's title, heaven is not afar in spite of there is turmoil prevalent on the surface, humanity can prevail. Wonderful performances from the central sextet, in the (borderline) leading part, Davrak emanates an aura of soothing kindness often outdoes what he is required by the script and Turkish name-star Yesilçay mounts a great deal of rawness and bluntness in her deglamorized commitment, whereas Köse and Ziolkovska, due to their characters' preordained fate, are the ones to proffer ample sympathy. As for the two veterans, the late Turkish triple-threat Kurtiz trades on a spot-on brazenness of senescent loneliness and obstinacy, and Schygulla, staggeringly holds court as the redeeming soul who gets over from a sad bereavement and carries on with a positive vibe, which is so powerful and contagious, that fly-on-the-wall observation of her wailing in the hotel room is tremendously devastating to watch. After his astounding one-two punch HEAD-ON (2004) and this, in retrospect, the following decade surprisingly hasn't panned out as a substantial acclivity for this wunderkind cineaste (he was only 34 at that time) as one might have postulated, his track record after THE EDGE OF HEAVEN is a lukewarm comedy SOUL KITCHEN (2009), an atrocious misfire THE CUT (2014) and his latest GOODBYE BERLIN (2016), almost gets no traction upon its release in the international front. Will Akin find his mojo back? It will be a crying shame if a filmmaker of his credentials cannot achieve something significantly great.

sanderson154 A very cleverly written and edited film that ties in the stories of different people, generations and nationalities, a lonely retired Turkish immigrant in Germany meets a prostitute from his home country which begins an interesting (to say the least) chain of events, I won't ruin it by giving away too much of the script but unintentional death plays a large part as does forgiveness, incredibly the characters don't realise how 'connected' they actually are throughout the film which is divided into three parts, the occasional 'flashback' moment adds rather than detracts from the pacing and the storyline holds your interest at all times, absolutely no filler moments or scenes in this one.

Armand chain of tales. circle of emotions. subtle acting. beautiful images. key of different rooms of world. a kind of poem. picture of fights out of rules. search of sense. definition of beauty shadows. map of roots. an extraordinary director and his magnificent cast. story of truth and his bones, ways and sentences, pledge about universal language of love need, game of duty and sacrifice price, nostalgic description of people, countries, lost and necessaries meetings, it is not just a impressive movie but occasion to self recognition far from usual definitions or large - comfortable hypocrisy. a film between culture, among masks. illustration of old memento mori as seed of silent heavy joy. a search. few answers. and flowers of new questions. a subtle performance of Hanna Schygulla. touching science of Baki Davrak to create the universe of Nejat. a profound lesson as end. a travel. inside essence of strange peace.

Hitchcoc This is such a complex movie with very complex characters. It also involves the tests of cultural differences. In the little traveling I've done, I always find myself looking over my shoulder, not because of the regular kinds of danger, but those cultural things of which I am ignorant. This has to do with subtle differences in government and the oppression of citizens. It has to do with the reaction toward those who defy authority. Also, Islam plays a large part in all of this. Ultimately, however, this is about a realistic portrayal of some incredibly interesting people, not because of what they have done, but how they are portrayed and react. I guess that makes it stellar acting. All the characters move around in a broad circle, motivated by their pain. There is the constant tug of how one is able to maintain a political agenda when one is faced with human tragedy. How much of life is about making a point. I kept waiting for all the pieces to be put together. They never are; but it is no matter. It's an excellent film.