Head-On (Gegen die Wand)

by Daniela Berghahn

Overview

When Head-On (Gegen die Wand, 2004) won the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival, it was hailed as a turning point for German cinema. Not only was this unconventional love story the first German film in eighteen years to win the prestigious award, but the success of writer-director Fatih Akin was also celebrated as the revival of German auteur cinema. Meanwhile Turkey claimed Akin as its own prodigal son and his film a victory for Turkish cinema.

Daniela Berghahn provides a detailed and entertaining account of the film's artistic inspirations, its production history and the debates that surrounded it in the German and Turkish press. Arguing that much of the media discourse on Turkish German identity politics detracted from Akin's remarkable artistic achievement, Berghahn instead situates Head-On in the critical contexts of global art cinema and transnational melodrama. This comparative approach excavates new layers of meaning and offers highly original insights into Akin's landmark film.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781844576722
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	05/29/2015
Series:	BFI Film Classics
Edition description:	2015
Pages:	96
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.40(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Daniela Berghahn is Professor of Film Studies at Royal Holloway, University of London, UK. She is the author of Hollywood Behind the Wall (2005) and Far-Flung Families in Film (2013) and the co-editor of European Cinema in Motion (2010).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments .- Introduction .- 1. And the Winner is...? .- 2. Caught Up in Identity Politics: From Turkish German Film-maker to Transnational Auteur .- 3. Head-On as Transnational Melodrama .- Notes .- Credits.