PTAbro's World Tour Stop 14: Turkey

An ouroboric tale of twisting relationships, shared acquaintances, and converging plotlines, The Edge of Heaven is a spectacularly involving film highlighting the juxtaposition of an increasingly globalized society with decreasingly connected families. It's a macro/micro study of human relationships, and full of great performances. From Turkey to Germany and back, director Fatih Akin manages to craft an emotional tale of alienation, both political and familial, and delights in the convoluted interweaving of the three families involved.

Mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, lovers and strangers; all make The Edge of Heaven an almost Altman-esque exercise in connections, large and small, between all the main players. It's almost reminiscent of a heist tale in the…

One of my soft spots in cinema are those films that have a magnified universality of axiomatic human values that transcend international borders, which are political, geographical, economical and/or ideological subjective divisions made up by men. Renoir first approached this topic in 1937 and addressed it with irresistibly moving humanist arguments, becoming one of the best films ever made.

The episodically shattered treatment reminded me of one of the many intentions of Iñárritu in Babel (2006) and his famous tradition of making interconnected stories, but the completely engrossing violent environment with its transnational treatment of cause and consequence brought Villeneuve’s Incendies (2010) to my mind immediately. I reiterate that these films are one of my (several) soft spots in cinema…

"Darling," replied Valentine, "has not the count just told us that all human wisdom is summed up in two words? - 'Wait and hope.'" --The Count of Monte Cristo

The director, Fatih Akin, took inspiration from this closing line, so I will run with it and see where it leads…

Not too long ago, I was having a conversation with an older gentleman, who was telling me about his small business. I listened as he meandered through his history and what he learned through the years and then he said something that is perhaps the most profound thing I’ve heard in a long time. He said, “Most people think that they have two choices, to either do something, or to…

The World Is More Than Enough 5: The Rebirth - Turkey (24/30)

Honestly could not have been more disappointed with this.

The opening half an hour is extremely quiet indeed with very little in the way of incident or notable details happening. There's nothing necessarily wrong with it, just not really a great deal to get excited about. That was fine as I was quite happy to be in it for the long haul with this one.

What it gave way to, however, was predictability and an amazing reliance on coincidence and contrivance. All of a sudden one after another of completely unbelievable encounters and near encounters. I think it's become a recent bugbear of mine, this, but I think…

My partner turned to me during the final moments of the film and asked 'are we missing something beautiful about this?' It was an excellent question at the time, one that suited our feeling toward the concluding story. The Edge of Heaven seems to have all the right components needed to make it an affecting drama given its structured direction and grounded performances. That said, there was something missing I couldn't quite put my finger on.

Moving the narrative along when relying on coincidence is an awkward bump to overcome at the best of times. Bringing together the characters through interconnecting paths into one singular strand in a drama, without looking contrived, is asking a lot of the audience. Fatih…

The Edge of Heaven is a deep, multi-layered film. It's a bit too neat and intertwined, but there is so much true substance and emotion it's all worth it. What stands out most to me is the connection the viewer develops with so many different characters. At just about 2 hours long, it feels longer but moves quickly.

I won't speak about the plot, as it doesn't add to any critique and could contain spoilers. The film is about various people living in Turkey and Germany, Turks in Germany, Germans in Turkey, etc etc, and how their lives become connected. Films like this can often feel gimmicky and I usually avoid them, but it's handled delicately here. Nor does the…

The Edge of Heaven (2007) is my second foreign film recommendation by director Fatih Akin. It isn't has gritty and raw as Head-On but it has the same elements of the auteur director. The Edge of Heaven is much easier to take in and is an interesting story about a Turkish man who travels to Istanbul to find the daughter of his father's former girlfriend. Sounds like a lot to take in, huh? Well it's not. The story is enthralling and will have you captivated from the moment it begins. I recommend this film to everyone because it hits all the right points to a truly great picture. Characters lives intersect in a way that affects one another forever. The…