Head-On
Germany, Turkey,
2004
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121 min.
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Dir. Fatih Akin
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It initially sounds like the pitch for yet another gentle, predigested rom-com: Man enters into marriage of convenience with free-spirited stranger in order to free her from her rabidly strict family, only to gradually realize that they’re actually made for each other. From the opening frames, however, it’s clear that the aptly named Head-On takes a markedly different approach to the material—here, he makes his living picking up empties in a punk club, she’s mainly looking for a way to have as much unattached sex ’n’ drugs as possible, and they meet cute after both attempting suicide. The most honestly electrifying film I’d seen in years, SIFF Emerging Master Fatih Akin’s thundering character piece completely captures the joy, fear, and self-loathing of bottoming out.
By Andrew Wright
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