Tag: germany

A child who legally doesn’t exist. “Nila’s Dream in the Garden of Eden” (“Nilas Traum im Garten Eden”, 2023)

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directed by Niloufar Taghizadeh
© 2023 Windcatcher-Productions. All Rights Reserved.

Today’s post won’t be a pleasant one, so fasten your seatbelt and get ready for a bumpy ride. Let me begin with a question: what can a man do when he’s in need of intimacy? The first answer that may come to your mind is proposing their partner some one-to-one time. But what if they don’t have a partner? Well, then they may always reach out to a sex worker, who offers such intimate meetings or find someone for a hook-up on a dating app. The problem occurs when the intimacy-seeking man is religious or when in his culture having sex with a stranger is not approved. In order to obey the rules but still satisfy his needs, such man may temporarily marry a woman. It means that they are not willing to share a life like an ordinary married couple, but, shortly speaking, they want to be allowed to be intimate with each other and not get on nobody’s nerves (especially their gods or religion’s authorities). As a non-religious person I have my personal opinion on such ideas, but let me just skip that, because the problem that this documentary discusses is way more complicated. We get to know Leyla who temporarily got married to a man and gave birth to their child, Nila. The girl is now an adorable six-year-old and she’s living with her mother only. Her father doesn’t even accept Nila as his child and he’s busy with his own family and life. In our times, women becoming single parents isn’t anything exceptional, even though it’s still concerning. However, Leyla is struggling with a much bigger problem than being the only breadwinner. Children born in temporary marriages very often have a complicated legal situation because, according to the law in Iran, the man is always the most important figure and as long as he doesn’t approve of something, the woman has her hands tied. Since Nila’s father is not recognising her, the girl cannot even receive a birth certificate, which means that legally she doesn’t exist. Before you think “oh it’s just a piece of paper” – this piece of paper is incredibly significant, because the girl cannot even go to school. How can you sign up a child who hasn’t been born, right? Even if they clearly see this little girl standing in front of them, there’s nothing to be done. Either the father recognises the girl or someone proves he’s the biological father, or Nila is not allowed to do anything. Leaving the country isn’t possible either – how can you pass any border without documents? I mean… legally. What’s more, when the girl turns 7, according to the law, her father may take her away from the mother, even if he wasn’t a part of her life until then. I was so pissed off watching this documentary, because I cannot even imagine all those women in a similar situation to Leyla’s who are so terribly helpless. Even now I have tears in my eyes writing this post because I cannot stand such cruelty. When you hear the mother saying “I will even let them rape me as long as my daughter gets a chance for a better life”, you know we failed as humanity. No woman and no child should be put in such situation. If your god forces you to treating others this way, maybe reconsider who you’re praising. And to all women who are fighting – don’t give up and be proud of yourselves. That’s surely one of the most meaningful documentaries I’ve seen.

My rating: 9/10
S.

I am not your token. “Clashing Differences” (2023)

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directed by Merle Grimme
© 2023 Sperl Film und Fernsehproduktion. All Rights Reserved.

Diversity. Inclusion. Feminism. Tolerance. Equity. Equality. All those words are very beautiful and they’re definitely significant nowadays. However, I’m afraid that each person may understand them a bit differently, which may lead to numerous conflicts and misunderstandings. The film I’d like to recommend you today may present you the ugly side of social activism, which, unconsciously, you might also be a part of. The film starts with a group of white feminists, who are responsible for organising a conference, discussing their current issue: not enough diversity. To promote their conference as an event that includes very different people, they’re deciding to invite such unique individuals. The new guests gather in one place to talk about the conference and prepare their group manifest as they are against such “inclusiveness” presented by the organising team. We get to learn new points of view and the whole meeting is full of topics like gender neutrality, toxic feminism, colourism, exclusion of minorities etc. Each member of this little group has their own story and their own very strong opinions on the society, so their discussions are incredibly intensive, but also hilarious at some points. The director of the film came up with an idea to overact certain parts, which might seem like a parody since we’re trying to understand quite difficult issues here. But in my opinion, using a quality humour to transmit controversial and heavy information is probably one of the best ways to do it. Personally, I wasn’t sure about this production watching the first half of it. I’m a person who really believes that everyone should be respected and should have the right to be who they want to be as long as they don’t hurt others. But as I said earlier, each character of the film has strong opinions about their identity, so to me it seemed slightly too aggressive. As I was watching, I realised that the actresses were just overacting, which I think also gives us some food for thought. I don’t want to tell you what happens next in the story, but I’d like to say what I take from it. Firstly, each of us is different and can be whoever they feel they are, bless you dear anyone, but tolerance goes both ways. So, in my opinion, if a group of somehow excluded people start sharing hate speech towards some majority, it’s equally wrong. I mean, I understand that it could be frustrating, because I’m a member of several minorities, but if someone excludes me because of that, I don’t see the point of doing the same the other way round. Because then we divide society even more, feed this general hate that’s going around and end up even more lonely than before. Secondly, this film reminds us about tokenism, so, shortly speaking, fake inclusion. I could talk about it for hours (or write hundreds of pages), but when it comes to cinema, reflect on the decisions of The Academy, for example. I’ll be honest and harsh now – according to me, The Academy is popularising tokenism. Boom, I said it. To me their way of including people of different minorities is not genuine at all. Maybe now we just look at the list of nominees with a little “huh?” written on our faces, but in the future those decisions may have bigger consequences. And to sum up, this film reminds us that we are all humans, we are one crew and we should just respect. Not because, not despite. Just like that.

My rating: 7/10
S.

Love doesn’t interest you at all? “I’m Your Man” (“Ich bin dein Mensch”, 2021)

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directed by Maria Schrader
© 2021 Majestic Filmverleih. All Rights Reserved.

Love can be complicated, right? No, wait… Love IS complicated. That’s a fact, period. Some people keep on searching for the perfect partner slowly losing their mind in the process, or there are those who’ve given up and let it be, either they stay single forever or not. But what if we could get ourselves a perfect partner? Someone, who’s our type, who knows what we like, who shares our values and satisfies all our needs. Alma (Maren Eggert) is an archeologist, a very ambitious woman with a specific professional goal. However, she’s also single so she wishes to finally meet someone valuable. One evening she meets Tom (Dan Stevens) at a dance club. The man is incredibly charming, easy to talk to and, as Alma quickly discovers, brilliant. Too good to be true? Sort of. Tom is actually a humanoid, so no surprise he seems perfect. Alma is asked to run a short project, which includes taking Tom home and evaluating him as a partner. The woman is definitely against any deeper relations with a robot, so she considers it a task that has to be done. Besides, she’s also very curious how close Tom can get to the figure of her ideal partner. The robot is already equipped with some data about Alma, but the more time they spend together, the more he adapts to her needs. Personally, I like films which make me question our humanity and show the relations between us and artificial intelligence. I’m guessing that while you were reading the beginning of my post, you were thinking “oh, that would be awesome to meet someone so perfect”. However, we’re humans and we’re far from being perfect, so even if we crave this perfection in others, we may quickly realise that it’s the imperfection we’re missing in the other person. It’s funny that in some sci-fi productions they present AI as our enemy, as something that may destroy us all, but in fact, we, humans, love to destroy ourselves and each other. We love to argue, we love to fight, we love this passive aggression and tensions all around us. Even if generally we’re not bad-tempered or argumentative, we need some drama in our lives. So having a partner who brings us breakfast to bed is great, but we also need them to leave dirty socks on the floor so we had a reason to scream a little bit. Right? And that’s our human love, I guess. So this film is full of such food for thought when it comes to genuine relations and you may reflect on human needs when it comes to building partnerships. Besides, despite being a robot, Tom is a pretty funny guy so you’ll have a chance to have a laugh as well.

My rating: 7/10
S.

What is a soldier without war? “All Quiet on the Western Front” (“Im Westen nichts Neues”, 2022)

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directed by Edward Berger
© 2022 Netflix. All Rights Reserved.

I have to admit that I was rather sceptical before watching today’s film. It’s because I’m a bit tired of continuous adaptations instead of creating fresh productions. “All Quiet on the Western Front” by Erich Maria Remarque had already had two film adaptations, one of which won two Oscars (Outstanding Production and Best Director). I’ve seen that first adaptation from 1930 and, indeed, it’s a film worth your time, just mind the fact it’s been almost 100 years since it was made. Plus, as the novel itself is culturally and politically significant, I’m not surprised that production was the winner back then. So, since we already have such cinematographic gem, what’s the point of making another one? Well, here I come saying: thank you holy spirits, tooth fairies and anyone above us for making this film happen. To make things clear, I’m not saying it’s an absolute masterpiece, but I do believe it’s needed. For those who haven’t read the book or haven’t heard of the story, it’s about the German soldiers who were fighting in World War I. The novel is very much appreciated mostly for its anti-war messages coming from it, especially for the indirect accusation of manipulating and murdering thousands of young men purely for political reasons. In the film, we’re following yet a teenager named Paul (Felix Kammerer), who enlists to fight in the War together with his friends. Even though we have a protagonist, I feel like we experience the story from all possible perspectives on the way. And the reason why I’m glad this film was produced is because we really need constant reminders about the ridiculousness of wars. Forgive my honesty, but I do believe there’s nothing to be proud of in leading your people to battles. In the novel and both adaptations (I haven’t seen the one from 1979) we may see how lost all those youngsters were in that situation. They were often not aware of what’s happening and what it takes to be on the front. Authorities were manipulating them to believe it’s a matter of respect towards their country and they should be proud of joining the army, while all those boys were was a human target for the other side. For what? Nothing more valuable than a human life, if you ask me. And I’m glad that we refresh such stories and make them visible to people all around the world. I also have to admit that I was thrilled how meticulously this adaptation was made, with all the details, short scenes that speak for themselves (for example the one where Paul receives his uniform and notices a label attached to it – I had chills), wonderful camerawork and editing. I know that it’s quite strange saying it considering the theme of this film but it’s truly beautiful from the technical point of view. And perhaps because it’s so perfectly done, it hits even harder with the content it presents. Plus, I’m sure more younger viewers will decide to see this one instead of the two previous adaptations because it’s more accessible and visually attractive. So, in the end, I’m glad this film happened. Do I wish it an Oscar? I don’t know. But I wish you to see it and reflect on the lesson we apparently haven’t learned as humanity.

My rating: 7/10
S.

I’ll talk, laugh and screw whenever and whoever I like. “A Regular Woman” (“Nur eine Frau”, 2019)

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directed by Sherry Hormann
© 2019 Vincent TV. All Rights Reserved.

This topic is not a piece of cake and I’m amazed that the filmmakers decided to make the film. Each country has its own culture and I think we should respect each other and stay open-minded. However, in some countries, even today, women are treated as objects, which is something unacceptable, at least to me. Conservative values, women taking care of the house and raising children instead of making a career – that’s one thing and I know several women who actually chose this path in life and I totally support them. But treating the woman as a servant + baby maker + sex toy, well, that’s just wrong in so many ways. And this is what this film is about. Aynur (Almila Bagriacik) is a young woman living in Germany. Even though she feels German, her origins are Turkish. One day, her parents decide to marry her to a man of their choice, because Aynur is old enough to start being a wife and settle down. She listens to her family and gets married to a person she doesn’t love. After getting pregnant, Aynur runs away from Turkey and returns to Germany without her husband’s nor her parents’ permission. Hoping to be supported by the family, she gets rejected by them instead and needs to fight for her and her baby’s decent life. It’s not a big spoiler, because it’s said at the very beginning – Aynur gets murdered and the film is told by her as a narrator. Which was something I really appreciated because at the beginning she even said something like “I’m dead, but at least now you will listen to my story” and it really hit me. It’s common to feel pity for the women who got killed or abused in some way, but it’s not often to talk about the ones that are living this hell. Besides, for those who don’t speak Turkish, this film will be a very interesting experience because the only language translated into English is German. So when the characters are speaking German, we get the subtitles in English. But when they use Turkish, we don’t understand a thing. And I loved that idea. Just because drama is happening in a language we don’t understand, it doesn’t mean it’s not happening. I don’t speak Turkish and it was a great way to show this barrier between two or more cultures. Don’t miss this film, I mean it.

My rating: 7/10
S.

Who knows what it’s like to be me? “M” (“M – Eine Stadt sucht einen Mörder”, 1931)

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directed by Fritz Lang
© 1931 Vereinigte Star-Film GmbH. All Rights Reserved.

If you’re one of those people who think that old black&white films are boring, I hope I will change your mind with this film. But before I tell you about the plot, I’d like you to look at the title. The English (or even international) title is “M” (for Murderer), yet in German they used a little longer title, which literally means “A City Searches for a Murderer”. At first it was supposed to be called “Mörder unter uns” (Murderer Among Us), but after the director shared the information about making this film in a newspaper and that it’s about a child murderer, people got furious. It was such a big deal that the studio didn’t let Lang shoot the film using their space. But since we can all see this film now, it means that they actually managed to make it. And I believe this production, even though it was made in the 30s, was way ahead in its form. So if you’re interested in the more technical part of making films, I’m sure you’ll find it interesting, especially its camerawork and sound. Anyway, time to tell you what the story is about. The film takes place in Berlin where children are being kidnapped and murdered by some mysterious person. The whole city is terrified and the police do their best, but cannot find a single clue. However, not everybody’s happy with the fact that the police is observing them 24/7, and those who’d like to “get back to normal” are… criminals, who, surprisingly, begin a chase after the murderer in order to help the police. I think that this part of the story is already very much interesting; that two totally different groups of people unite to reach one goal. But the most disturbing is the fact that they unite not only to save children, but to punish the M and get back to their lives. At least this is how I saw it. Selfish? A bit. But let’s face it, that’s incredibly human. Of course it all started with the will to keep children safe, but in the end, everyone wanted to gain something for themselves. And also about the end… *SPOILER ALERT* The end is definitely my favourite part of this film, because it’s like a cherry on top. People who wanted to do good, to catch a criminal and protect others, suddenly become a group of beasts who wish to hurt another human being. I know that it’s a murderer, he killed several children, yet the ending shows how easily it is for us to wake up this “murderer” in ourselves. I’m sorry if I’m being a bit drastic or philosophical, but that’s how I read this story and why I find it so special. *END OF SPOILER* Last thing I want to tell you is that Peter Lorre, who played the murderer, did a marvellous acting job and you should definitely watch this film to see his performance. In fact, the director, Fritz Lang, spent several days talking to real child murderers and even invited some criminals to be extras in the film, which was quiiiiiite controversial, as you can imagine. But we cannot say he didn’t care about realism, right?

My rating: 7/10
S.

Childhood in prison. “Born in Evin” (2019)

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directed by Maryam Zaree
© 2019 Das Kleine Fernsehspiel. All Rights Reserved.

Childhood. That’s one of the best periods of our lives. We don’t have to worry about working, relationships, health or taxes. Everything is often done by our parents and we can enjoy building a fortress with pillows. However, not all of us were that lucky and today I’d like to introduce you to Maryam Zaree, whose first years of life were very much different. Maryam is a filmmaker and actress who decided to find out more about her childhood. When she was a baby, her mother ran away from Iran to Germany, so Maryam was basically raised as a German. She went to a German school, she speaks German. Her mother also learned German fluently, did her PhD and got into politics, so we can say they really used their chance for a better life. Both ladies are now safe and successful. But Maryam wishes to find out about her birth in Iran, which happened in the least children-friendly place – in a prison. The woman was born in Evin, Iranian prison, where her parents had been kept. Considering that her mother was pregnant back then, nobody cared to take her to hospital or at least support her on the big day. Sounds horrific, doesn’t it? No surprise Maryam’s parents avoid conversations about this topic. The woman, however, wishes to learn more and find out about other survivors and their children, because it’s obvious that she wasn’t the only one born in Evin. Even though Maryam is incredibly friendly and smiling in this documentary, you can tell she’s suffering. And I feel like it’s not about comforting herself, but about finding some kind of justice after what happened to her parents. At least I see it this way. Nevertheless, it’s an interesting film, which can present you the realities of Iran and Iranian refugees.

My rating: 7/10
S.

Everybody needs their own spark. “A Dysfunctional Cat” (“Die defekte Katze”, 2018)

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directed by Susan Gordanshekan
© 2018 Glory Film. All Rights Reserved.

Despite a very specific title, this film isn’t about a cat. I mean, there is a cat there but it’s just the pet of the main characters. And also a very important symbol of the story, but that I’ll mention later and call it a spoiler, so don’t worry. Since it’s a romantic drama, we need at least two people for that, right? Mina (Pegah Ferydoni) is a woman from Iran. Her family and everyone around her think that she should already get married. That is why the woman decides to get married in a traditional way – by an arrangement. The husband for Mina turns out to be an Iranian man living in Germany. Kian (Hadi Khanjanpour) is single and working as a doctor there, so it seems like a perfect choice. However, when those two meet, there’s no chemistry between them. Still, they try living together, hoping to fall in love with each other despite this awkward situation. Unfortunately, even though they both want a successful relationship, they keep on acting like strangers. You may ask about the cat now. Where’s the cat? Okay, *SMALL SPOILER* so at some point Mina buys the furry guy, which becomes a problem – she loves the pet, her husband hates it. And in my opinion it’s a symbol of the relationship they have. Perhaps in certain cultures arranged marriages are successful, the two people stay together for a long time and have a wonderful family. However, in terms of feelings and affection, I believe that arranged marriages are somehow dysfunctional. Emotionally dysfunctional. Perhaps some couples overcome this problem and fall in love with each other, just like people do with many ofter dysfunctions. But naturally, people need to feel this something, this special spark, otherwise, it’s just sharing same bed, fridge and surname. *END OF SPOILER* Even though I was missing some energy in the film, because sometimes it was way too slow, it made me reflect a lot, so I recommend you to see it. And the cat, even though dysfunctional, is adorable.

My rating: 6.5/10
S.