The Edge of Heaven (2007)

A Turkish man travels to Istanbul to find the daughter of his father's former girlfriend.

Director:

Fatih Akin

Writer:

Fatih Akin

Stars:

Baki Davrak, Nurgül Yesilçay, Tuncel Kurtiz

37 wins & 22 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Baki Davrak	...	Nejat / Ali's son
Nurgül Yesilçay	...	Ayten / Yeter's daughter
Tuncel Kurtiz	...	Ali / Nejat's father
Nursel Köse	...	Yeter / Ayten's mother-Prostitute
Patrycia Ziolkowska	...	Lotte / Ayten's lesbian friend
Hanna Schygulla	...	Susanne / Lotte's mother
Idil Üner	...	Ärztin / doctor
Erkan Can	...	Ufuk / Nejat's cousin
Turgay Tanülkü	...	Cem
Elcim Eroglu	...	Elcim
Nurten Güner	...	Nurten
Asuman Altinay	...	Türkan
Gökhan Kiraç	...	Junger Polizeibeamter / Younger police officer
Nejat Isler	...	Kommissar / inspector
Lars Rudolph	...	Markus / Buchhandlung Inhaber / bookstore owner

Storyline

Nejat seems disapproving about his widower father Ali's choice of prostitute Yeter for a live-in girlfriend. But he grows fond of her when he discovers she sends money home to Turkey for her daughter's university studies. Yeter's sudden death distances father and son. Nejat travels to Istanbul to search for Yeter's daughter Ayten. Political activist Ayten has fled the Turkish police and is already in Germany. She is befriended by a young woman, Lotte, who invites rebellious Ayten to stay in her home, a gesture not particularly pleasing to her conservative mother Susanne. When Ayten is arrested and her asylum plea is denied, she is deported and imprisoned in Turkey. Lotte travels to Turkey,where she gets caught up in the seemingly hopeless situation of freeing Ayten.

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Plot Keywords:

tragic event | child uses a gun | woman arrested | death by slap | political demonstration | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Germany] Official site [Japan]

Country:

Germany Turkey Italy

Language:

German Turkish English

Release Date:

27 September 2007 (Germany)

Also Known As:

The Edge of Heaven

Filming Locations:

Bremen, Germany

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$14,257, 25 May 2008

Gross USA:

$742,349

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$17,804,565

Company Credits

Production Co:

Anka Film, Beauftragter der Bundesregierung für Angelegenheiten der Kultur und der Medien (BKM), Dorje Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

122 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When the film was released to UK cinemas on the 22nd February 2008, it simultaneously became available on Sky Box Office, the UK's major cable TV provider. This represented the first time such a release took place, opening up new possibilities for foreign language films - which traditionally have problems getting distribution - to be seen by bigger audiences.

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Goofs

In the film, the year is 2006 and it is the Festival of Sacrifices (Kurban Bayrami), a religious holiday. Everybody is in summer clothes and many of them are sweating. The Festival of Sacrifices in 2006 in Turkey was in winter, at the end of December.

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Quotes

story: After telling the story of Abraham that was willing to sacrifice his son, Ismael, to show God his obedience. Before Abraham could slay his son God sent a lamb to sacrifice instead.
Nejat Aksu: I asked my dad if he would have sacrificed me as well.
Susanne Staub: And what did he say?
Nejat Aksu: That he would even make an enemy of God to protect me.

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Crazy Credits

Towards the end of the credits, details about the book Nejat gives to his father are given (it's a Turkish translation of "Die Tochter des Schmieds" by Selim Özdogan) with a request to read it: "Lest dieses Buch, Leute!" ("Read this book, people!") Selim Özdogan is a friend of Fatih Akin.

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Connections

Featured in Fatih Akin - Tagebuch eines Filmreisenden (2007)

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Soundtracks

Camburnu
Performed by Yusuf Kaba

User Reviews

Moving, Timely, Intelligent Look into the Turkish-German Meld

The Edge of Heaven

This is such a powerful, expansive, yet intimate movie about one of the things that matters most in our times, it's hard to fault it. The acting, the events, the setting, and implications of all these characters meeting and not quite meeting, suck you in. If it seems to have a lull now and then, you end up feeling the pace of their lives, and the pace of life itself. The events, even when they have a comic twist, are so heady and difficult they could make whole films each by themselves, but here they work through several related sections within a single tapestry.

As strong as the acting is, the core of the movie is the series of events, the plot. You'll see early on some coincidences beyond reason, making the plot almost Shakespearean, and therefore artful. The roles are each character are just a little surprising, just enough to keep us curious, yet each character represents a distinctive aspect of the crosscurrents of German and Turkish cultures and worlds, such as old people assimilating and young people refusing to assimilate. Even more than the mixing of Mexican and American worlds here in the U.S., this is a dramatic and more contentious melding, fraught with all those dangers of misunderstanding we hear in the news every day. Yet when it's brought down to the level of individuals, even seemingly unyielding ones, humanity wins.

I don't know how this film will carry itself in a couple decades. As well made as it is, it feels rooted in the moment, and when the times change yet again, there might be some kind of art or magic or transcendence missing to make it fully transport a viewer. It will remain interesting, but possibly less moving. But then, maybe the themes, of parents and children, of friends looking for who they miss and avoiding who they can't stand any more, might just be universal. But as a reflection of our world right now, 2009 (or 2007, when the movie was finished), it helped clarify just what life is like out there, beyond cinematic glitter and glam, beyond hyped up violence and romance. And beyond even the limitations of documentary in creating aura.

The Edge of Heaven happens to end with such lyrical highs, the name of the movie hits you hard. We are reminded of what exists beyond all the trappings that made so many people in the previous two hours so miserable, and it's there for us to tap into and to have in common, regardless.