On the Other Side (2007)

Directed by: Fatih Akin | 122 minutes | drama | Actors: Nurgül Yesilçay, Baki Davrak, Tuncel Kurtiz, Hanna Schygulla, Patrycia Ziolkowska, Nursel Köse, Lars Rudolph, Andreas Thiel

‘Auf der Andere Seite’ by director Fatih Akin is a beautiful and emotional drama about the lives of six people, four Turkish, two German, who have a great influence on each other’s lives, although some of this group has never met the other half. , let alone that they know about each other’s existence. In the middle of the trilogy, which Akin calls “Love, Death, Devil”, ‘Auf der Andere Seite’ is therefore about Death, where predecessor ‘Gegen die Wand’ had Love as its main theme. Who all will die is announced in advance by means of chapter indications.

Nejat – key figure in the film – visits his father, the widower Ali. This traditionally oriented seventies turns out to have an unexpected side when it becomes clear that he visits prostitutes. He has a favorite, the Turkish Yessie, whose real name is Yeter. It’s touching to see how he talks to her and treats her. The viewer can therefore only hope that happiness continues to smile at the two. Unfortunately, by the chapter indication of the first part of the film it is already evident that this is not the case, Yeter dies. Nejat, tormented by vicarious guilt, cuts all ties with Ali. He travels with Yeter’s body to Istanbul to bury her with her family and to find Ayten, Yeter’s daughter. In vain. Ayten has been missing for years, the 27-year-old beautiful student is a political activist and has lost contact with her family. Nejat decides to stay in Istanbul, buys a German bookshop there and says goodbye to his German existence as a university professor for good.

The first time we see Ayten we don’t know it’s her. This realization comes later and causes a small shock. So close to the truth, it’s so bitter… Ayten flees from the police during a demonstration and hides a weapon. When her roommates are arrested, she manages to escape and decides to travel to Germany in search of her mother. Yeter has always told her daughter that she works in a shoe store. Ayten’s quest is therefore painfully funny. Without any means of payment in her pocket, she ends up at the University of Bremen, where she makes contact with Lotte, a blond German student of English and Spanish. Lotte is immediately impressed by the engaging and politically and socially engaged Turkish beauty and offers her food, shelter, clothing and soon her love. Ayten has the same feelings for Lotte. Lotte’s mother Susanne looks at it with sorrow. When Ayten is arrested for a stupid traffic violation and extradited to her home country, Susanne is not happy with her daughter’s decision to travel after her lover to offer help. The ties between mother and daughter – just like those of Ali and Nejat – are broken.

In an ingenious way, Akin knows how to interweave the lives of these six people. The non-coincidental encounters are strongly reminiscent of Kieslowski’s ‘Trois Couleurs’ trilogy. The work also has similarities with films such as ‘Babel’ and ‘Crash’. Akin has certainly succeeded in his ambition to film a very strong screenplay in an effective way. ‘Auf der Andere Seite’ is not an emotional rollercoaster, but it takes the time to let the main characters find their way into the hearts of the audience and it succeeds very well. It must already be very strange if the film does not mean the international breakthrough for the Golden Palm nominated Akin.

However, the film is not completely flawless. For example, the discussion between Ayten and Susanne about the possible accession of Turkey to the EU is superfluous and the subplot about Ayten’s hidden weapon also makes no sense, although it is of course crucial for Lotte’s fate. Also, a single shot in the last part of the film – in the bookstore – is quite condescending towards the viewer, and Akin wants to place too much emphasis on the fate of the situation. Akin takes a lot into account by not only dealing with the theme of death, but also by covering a whole range of Important Issues: multicultural society, relationships between parents and their children, lesbian loves, and protest movements, you name it. It all just fits. What speaks for itself is that there is more than enough room for interpretation as to the future of the still-living characters. And the final shot is one to frame.