VietNamNet Bridge – Due to the overwhelming demand for the German films introduced at the German Film Festival Hanoi 2008, three of the most popular films will be shown again at the Goethe Institute Hanoi.
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| Poster of "The Lives of Others". |
They are The Lives of Others, The Edge of Heaven and Head-on.
The Lives of Others was produced in 2008, directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck. It won the Oscar in 2007 for Best Foreign Film, as well as numerous German and European film prizes.
The movie takes place in 1984. Culture Minister Hempf orders the surveillance of the popular playwright Dreyman, not because he suspects disloyal activities, but because he is interested in Dreyman’s partner, the actress Christa-Marie. Stasi officer Wiesler, incorruptible and absolutely loyal, is entrusted with the task. He snoops in Dreyman’s life, bugs his apartment and installs his listening post in the attic of the building. But the deeper his involvement in the lives of these artists, the more he begins to question his orders, the more aware he becomes of the perversity of his work. He finally stands up against the system, but it proves inescapable, and even his decision for the good side ends in catastrophe.
The Edge of Heaven was released in 2007 by director Fatih Akin and it is a famous movie.
What remains after death of love, longing and passion, of life’s work and thoughts; what strands of fate does a person leave behind? A mother and a son seek answers in Istanbul. She, the mother, lost her daughter Lotte in an unfortunate accident, when Lotte was searching in Turkey for her partner, a political activist who disappeared in prison. He, the son, is running from a confrontation with his father who in a drunken rage had killed the Turkish prostitute Yeter, whom he had paid to live with him. Istanbul becomes the stage for catharsis, for confrontations with grief, guilt and forgiveness; but also the place where borders can be crossed, national borders included, in a time where the feeling of ‘Heimat’ (roughly, home) becomes ever more difficult to describe.
Head-on was produced in 2004, also directed by Fatih Akin.
He drove full speed into the wall of a building, she slit her wrists, but both survived and they meet in the psychiatric clinic. Coke-user and alcoholic Cahit already considers his life worthless, while Sibel is waiting to finally escape the confining Turkish traditions of her parents so she can satisfy her lust for life. For Sybil, the Turk Cahit is her key to this freedom. She talks him into a sham marriage in which they will live independently of one another. When Cahit realises that he has fallen in love with Sibil, passion, desperation, anger and the power of longing take their course and lead to catastrophe. In Head-on German and Turkish lifestyles collide, and no one ends up a winner in Fatih Akin’s virtuoso and uncompromising work. Head-on won the Golden Bear in 2004’s Berlin Biennale as well as the German and European film prizes.
Tickets are free at the Goethe Institute, 56-58 Nguyen Thai Hoc, Hanoi.
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