Faith (2010) User Reviews

Not bad, but far from the best in its kind

[LazySod · 6/10 · 18 April 2011]

This film deals with the religious believes of people (in this case Muslims and their believe in Islam) and how far they want to take it, how they decide to live their religion. The story follows a group of people, some of them related, and the way they deal with their every day life in combination with their religion. It follows them through difficult choices, through the turning points between being the person they are by nature or being the person their belief expects them to be.

In effect it is a drama like many religion based dramas before it. The choice for Islam is in that respect no different than the choice for any other kind of religion - they all feature the line between fundamentalism and an "open relation" with who or what you might believe in and the laws dictated by that religion through its holy books.

It isn't bad - not at all. It just isn't good. Films like Go With Peace Jamil, Gegen Die Wand and even Ae Fond Kiss deal with many of the same parts and are a fair deal better. I can't put a strict finger on the why of it - this film just misses some of their strength.

6 out of 10 broken dreams

I found it tough to develop an interest in the characters

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 17 October 2017]

"Shahada" is a full feature film by writer and director Burhan Qurbani and now probably his second most known work. With his own background, it fits well that he is telling a story of foreigners (muslims) living and struggling in Germany, namely in Berlin. It is about a clash between culture/religion and modern contemporary life here in Germany. Some are closer to their origins, others the exact opposite. It is basically three films in one as the focus is on three characters and the solution at the end did not really convince me to see it as one movie. Anyway, you probably won't find too many known names in the cast list. German film buffs could recognize Moya. But despite the German film Wward nomination, it is not an actors' film at all, it is much more about the story and maybe also about the ensemble. But I personally struggled to make a connection here, perhaps because Qurbani was just trying to include too much here: homosexuality, betrayal, pregnancy, abortion, religion, family life, father-daughter relationships, job struggles etc. The consequence is that several of these areas felt executed underwhelmingly overall and that the film lacks focus on a few occasions. Maybe sticking with two (or even one)characters and having them linked closer would have been the better choice here. It all got a bit messy, but even if the film has no area where it truly sucks or disappoints, I cannot recommend seeing it. For it also doesn't have any area where it truly shines or delivers. A piece of genuine mediocrity. Watch Qurbani's more known, more superior and more recent "We Are Young. We Are Strong." instead. Shahada gets a thumbs-down from me. Not recommended.

Beautiful! Excellent played!

[acid_23 · 10/10 · 9 November 2010]

This movie is one of the best German feature films, that i saw in the past decade, maybe it's because most of the actors where immigrants. The female lead role is played by Maryam Zaree and i think she has a great future as an actress if she keeps going like that. Her play was just excellent! Although the other actors where also very good. The movie takes place in Berlin (Germany) an shows the lifes of some people, while they struggle combining their western life and their Islamic religion. It gives a good perspective on the modern life of immigrants in Germany without judging anything. I highly recommend to go and watch the movie while it's still in cinemas. loved it!