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

33 wins & 16 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:

$18,593, 25 May 2008, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$741,283, 12 October 2008

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

The second entry in a proposed trilogy entitled "Liebe, Tod und Teufel" ("Love, Death and the Devil"). "Gegen die Wand" ("Head-On") was the first.

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Goofs

In the movie, police officials are shown in the Pasakapisi Prison. Indeed, in Turkey the prisons are guarded and controlled not by the police but by the "prison guards" and the gendarme.

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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

The film's title appears twice: in the middle of the film at 1 hour 25 mins and after the end credits.

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Connections

Referenced in At the Movies: Summer Special 2008/09 (2008)

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Soundtracks

Lotte & Ayten
Performed by Shantel
Written, Mixed and Produced by Shantel

User Reviews

Best German movie I have seen in a long time

"Auf der anderen Seite" is the first Faith Akin-movie I have seen, and I was surprised by how balanced and mature it was. Looking at Akin's young age and the "gang"-background of his youth, I was expecting something much louder, more brutal, more explicit, more devastating. What "Auf der anderen Seite" is, is a deeply humanistic and thoughtful movie.

The thing that I loved most about it, is that every single character is written so well. No one is a villain or a bad person per se, they're all just human, struggling to do what they think is right. The actors and actresses portraying these characters are fabulous. I've rarely seen such convincing and natural performances.

Finally, the story itself is original, unagitated and beautiful. The individual plot lines don't come together as you think they would or as you think it might be best for the characters. When the movie ends, you will find that everything did resolve in a way. It's hard to explain it, if you haven't seen it. Let's just say this: "Auf der anderen Seite" doesn't have the average Hollywood-solution, but it will leave you with a lot to think about when the credits quietly start running.

This movie really impressed me, and I can't wait to finally see Akin's other works. Apparently Germany's finally got a really interesting filmmaker deserving of all the praise he gets.