Intertwined narratives and personalities as the lives of Turks and Germans are drawn together by circumstance.
Complex yet controlled, director Fatih Akin explores the commonalities and gaps between cultures and individuals. A lonely old man (Tuncel Kurtiz) forges a link with Yeter, a sex worker (Nursel Köse). Her death results in the old man’s scholarly son (Baki Davrak) travelling to Istanbul in search of Yeter’s adult daughter Ayten (Nurgül Yesilçay). But, a political activist, Ayten has fled Turkey and travelled to Bremen in search of her mother.
As the stories and characters overlap so past and present are reconciled. It doesn’t always work – the Ayten/Lotte relationship is overly strident and and not wholly convincing. But overall, gentle, intimate and intricate, The Edge of Heaven is ultimately the story of the ties that bind, the love between mothers and daughters, fathers and sons – but also a love for home.
Rating: 63%
Director: Fatih Akin (Soul Kitchen, In the Fade)
Writer: Fatih Akin (Soul Kitchen, In the Fade)
Main cast: Baki Davrak (Crimean, Our Grand Despair), Tuncel Kurtiz (The Herd, Jailbreak), Nurgül Yesilçay (Coming Soon, Adam & the Devil)
An Opinion or Two 