IMDb > Gegen die Wand (2004)
Gegen die Wand
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Gegen die Wand (2004) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
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Director:
Writer:
Fatih Akin (book)
Contact:
View company contact information for Gegen die Wand on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
11 March 2004 (Germany) See more »
Genre:
Plot:
In 'Gegen die Wand' Cahit, a 40-something male from Mersin in Turkey has removed everything Turkish from his life... See more » | Full synopsis »
Plot Keywords:
Awards:
23 wins & 11 nominations See more »
NewsDesk:
(62 articles)
Recap: 'Game Of Thrones' Episodes 5 & 6 See Season Two Somehow Get Bloodier & Grimmer
 (From The Playlist. 8 May 2012, 6:58 AM, PDT)

24 Hours of... Love
 (From Shadowlocked. 15 February 2012, 2:57 AM, PST)

Casting: Spall, Bettany, Scott, Rahim
 (From Dark Horizons. 13 February 2012, 8:21 PM, PST)

User Reviews:
A Thrilling Roller Coaster Ride of Love and Loss See more (79 total) »

Cast

  (in credits order)

Birol Ünel ... Cahit Tomruk

Sibel Kekilli ... Sibel
Catrin Striebeck ... Maren

Meltem Cumbul ... Selma (Cousine)
Stefan Gebelhoff ... Nico
Francesco Fiannaca ... Mann am Tresen
Mona Mur ... Stammkundin Zoe Bar

Ralph Misske ... Patient 1 (Psychiatrie)

Philipp Baltus ... Patient 2 (Psychiatrie)
Hermann Lause ... Dr. Schiller
Karin Niwiger ... Kassiererin (Psychiatrie)
Demir Gökgöl ... Yunus Güner (Vater)
Cem Akin ... Yilmaz Güner (Bruder)
Aysel Iscan ... Birsen Güner (Mutter)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Monique Akin ... Kundin im Friseurladen
Canan Ata ... Canan
Cahit Aygüler ... Schläger
Adam Bousdoukos ... Barmann - Hochzeitsnacht
Yilmaz Canan ... Türsteher #1
Aytun Ede ... Musiker
Selim Erdogan ... Taxifahrer
Tugay Erverdi ... Osman #3
Nurcan Esmertürk ... Nurcan
Marco Greiser ... Abschlepper Disco

Orhan Güner ... Busfahrer
Sileyman Kaplan ... Sly
Hatun Kazci ... Hatice
Güven Kiraç ... Seref
Feridun Koc ... Osman #1

Mehmet Kurtulus ... Barmann Istanbul
Zarah Jane McKenzie ... Barfrau in der Fabrik (as Zarah McKenzie)
Alma Ouglu Sahin ... Türsteher 2
Reinhold Schulz ... Gefängnisbeamter
Tulga Serim ... Osman #2

Tim Seyfi ... Bayerischer Taxifahrer
Herr Tekin ... Barbier
Andreas Thiel ... Standesbeamter
Misra Tomruk ... Pamuk - Tochter
Senol Ugurlu ... Shane
Fanfare Ciocarlia ... Musiker (uncredited)
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Directed by
Fatih Akin 
 
Writing credits
(in alphabetical order)
Fatih Akin  book

Produced by
Ali Akdeniz .... line producer: Turkey
Fatih Akin .... co-producer
Mehmet Kurtulus .... co-producer
Andreas Schreitmüller .... producer: arte
Stefan Schubert .... producer
Ralph Schwingel .... producer
Andreas Thiel .... co-producer
Jeanette Würl .... producer: NDR
 
Original Music by
Alexander Hacke 
Maceo Parker 
 
Cinematography by
Rainer Klausmann 
 
Film Editing by
Andrew Bird 
 
Casting by
Mai Seck 
Mia Seck 
Harika Uygur 
 
Production Design by
Tamo Kunz 
 
Art Direction by
Sirma Bradley 
Nergis Çaliskan 
 
Costume Design by
Katrin Aschendorf 
 
Makeup Department
Nursen Balci .... makeup supervisor
Daniel Schröder .... makeup supervisor
 
Production Management
Muharrem Gulmez .... production manager: Turkey
Ingrid Holzapfel .... production manager
 
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Andreas Thiel .... assistant director
Nergis Usta .... assistant director
 
Art Department
Christoph Birth .... props
Beate ter Schüren .... property master
 
Sound Department
Richard Borowski .... sound mixer
Kai Greve .... trouble shooter
Hubert Henle .... stereo sound consultant: Dolby
Thomas Knop .... foley recordist
Jörg Krieger .... sound designer
Martin Langenbach .... foley artist
Kai Lüde .... sound
Matthias Münster .... adr recordist
Nani Schumann .... sound designer
Herbert Wüst .... boom operator
 
Special Effects by
Peter Wiemker .... special effects
 
Stunts
Emanuel Bettencourt .... fights choreographer
Josh Haggerty .... stunts
Soncke M. Korries .... stunts (as Sönke Korries)
Jochen Lange .... stunts
Uwe Mansshardt .... stunts
Ronnie Paul .... stunt coordinator
 
Camera and Electrical Department
Ümit Barlas .... lighting technician: Turkey
Clemens Bley .... assistant camera: second unit
Stefan Bräsen .... electrician
Carol Burandt von Kameke .... assistant camera
Hervé Dieu .... assistant camera
Annika Eysel .... assistant camera: second unit
Christian Klopp .... camera operator: second unit
Torsten Lemke .... gaffer
Maike Maier .... grip
Carsten Scharrmann .... grip
Kerstin Stelter .... still photographer
 
Costume and Wardrobe Department
Almut Stier .... costume assistant
 
Editorial Department
Stefanie Delfs .... negative cutter
Ilona Gehr .... negative cutter
Nikolai Hartmann .... assistant editor
Petra Schütt .... color grader
 
Music Department
Klaus Maeck .... music consultant
Alex Menck .... composer: additional music
Daniel Puente Encina .... composer: additional music
 
Other crew
Mira Amari .... coach: actors
Georgios Arvanitis .... set intern
Roman Brandt .... location manager
Dewi Grobecker .... payroll
Uwe Grobecker .... production accountant
Mira Husseini .... film publicist
Uwe Kolbe .... legal & business affairs
Oliver Lammert .... title designer
Birgit Nentwig .... production assistant
Erhan Ozogul .... production accountant: Turkey
Andreas Schreitmüller .... misc crew
Nergis Usta .... continuity
Jan Weber .... location manager
Jeanette Würl .... misc crew
 

Production CompaniesDistributorsOther Companies
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
"Head-On" - International (English title), UK, USA
"Duvara karsi" - Turkey (Turkish title)
"Contra la pared" - Argentina, Spain, Venezuela
"Mot väggen" - Finland (Swedish title), Sweden
"Contra a Parede" - Brazil
"Cu capul înainte" - Romania
"De plein fouet" - Canada (French title)
"Fallal szemben" - Hungary (imdb display title)
"Glavom kroz zid" - Serbia
"Glavom kroza zid" - Croatia (imdb display title)
"Glowa w mur" - Poland
"Head On - A Esposa Turca" - Portugal (imdb display title)
"Head-On" - France (imdb display title)
"La sposa turca" - Italy
"Mazi, pote!" - Greece (transliterated ISO-LATIN-1 title)
"Michigo sipeul ttae" - South Korea (imdb display title)
"Mod muren" - Denmark
"Mot veggen" - Norway (imdb display title)
"Suoraan seinään" - Finland
See more »
MPAA:
Rated R for strong graphic sexuality, pervasive language, some brutal violence and drug content
Runtime:
121 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 See more »
Sound Mix:
Company:

Did You Know?

Trivia:
During filming, Birol Ünel was told by his doctor that he had to quit drinking alcohol, otherwise he could die. This accounts for Ünel's weight loss in the latter part of the film, though giving up the booze made him so ill at one point that filming had to be suspended.See more »
Goofs:
Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): The psychiatrist at the beginning of the film tells Cahit about a song by the band The The containing the line "If you can't change the world, change your world". The actual quote (from the song "Lonely Planet", included in the album "Dusk") is "If you can't change the world, change yourself".See more »
Quotes:
Sibel:Cahit! I'm getting laid!
Cahit:[looking at Sibel and then the guy]
Sibel:Did you see the guy?
See more »
Movie Connections:
Soundtrack:
Agla sevdamSee more »

FAQ

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57 out of 67 people found the following review useful.
A Thrilling Roller Coaster Ride of Love and Loss, 16 February 2005
Author: noralee from Queens, NY

"Head On (Gegen die Wand)" is a completely original love story and shames conventional Hollywood romantic comedies with its fresh take on love and loss as rich as Rhett and Scarlett.

The closest I can think of a dysfunctional couple meeting so oddly cute and playing out an unusual relationship is in Christopher Fry's "The Lady's Not for Burning" which shares self-destructive lovers. The German literal title of "Against the Wall" is more resonant of how they feel, but the American distributors probably thought that had too much political implication.

The completely self-involved he and she here are innately off-kilter because writer/director Faith Akin sets them within a diverse Turkish immigrant community of Germany, so that their personalities are circumscribed by cultural expectations and restrictions, she chafing against binds on women and he lost in the nihilistic punk rock underground.

The rocky journey of how they find their own individuality within their sexual and emotional needs and ethnic identity and what each means to the other is an unpredictable thrill ride as each unexpected action leads to tears, laughter, poignancy and regret of bad timing. This is a baldly brash and frank exploration of the meaning of love and marriage, as individuals and within a web of family, friends and culture.

Craggy-faced Birol Ünel is riveting as the older, burned-out case whose past we only glimpse. Sibel Kekilli at first seems like just another pretty young thing, but brings spunk and sympathy on her maturing roller coaster ride. Evidently, deleted scenes that are available on the European DVD help to expand on the hints as to what her closing motivations are.

Dependant on the English subtitles, I'm sure I lost some significances as I wasn't sure when characters were speaking Turkish or German, let alone able to discern their fluency in either, with the added fillip of recognition of globalization with a sudden concluding discussion in Istanbul in English of their future.

The chapter introductions by an ethnic band playing a traditional sad love song adds to the timeliness of the tale that is reminiscent of old folk ballads of tragic love stories. In between, the punk rock and contemporary world fusion selections are terrific, including the moving closing song.

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See more (79 total) »

Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Gegen die Wand (2004)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
one the greatest movies I have ever seen in my life! orih77
Meeting Cahit in the bus station tim_aylett
I think it could have ended after his crash... tomycs
Sibel's baby sequanai
Cahit lookalike z522
Sibel's survival ashishjagtap1983
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