Germany has a large Turkish population many of whom arrived as "guest workers" and who are still treated as outsiders; there have been a remarkable number of German films about them -- and yes, Germany does have a relatively busy film industry. This particular movie which won a Golden Bear at the Berlin Festival is extremely well-made, well-acted, and consistently absorbing; what it is not is life-affirming. Meeting at a clinic for suicide failures the 20 year-old heroine bullies the 43 year-old male lead into marrying her solely to escape the restrictions of her hidebound parents and to start enjoying life (which by her definition is screwing around). She know that they will accept him since he too is Turkish, although he is no bargain by anyone's standards and he is anything but keen to marry her.
What follows is a situation where although the marriage has never been consummated -- they each go their own way in this respect -- they come to realise that they love each other. But it is too late. He is jailed for manslaughter and she, now disowned by her family, resettles in Istanbul. On his eventual release he finds her, but despite their love too much has happened to give us the ending we want. This downbeat story is punctuated by a Turkish singer and traditional band performing on the shores of the Bosphorus; this acts as chapter bookmarks interrupting the relentless pace of the tale.
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