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The Edge of Heaven (film)
Encyclopedia
The Edge of Heaven (original title ) is a 2007 Turkish-German-Italian drama film
written and directed by Fatih Akın
. The film won the Prix du scénario
at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival
. It was selected for Germany's entry to contest at the 2007 Oscar
but didn't make the selection of five nominated films.
After making its worldwide debut at the Cannes Film Festival
in France, the film was shown at several international film festival
s. It was released in Germany on September 27, 2007.
Retired widower Ali Aksu (Tuncel Kurtiz
), a Turkish immigrant living in the German city of Bremen
, believes he has found a solution to his loneliness when he meets a Turkish prostitute, Yeter Öztürk (Nursel Köse
). He offers her a monthly payment to stop working as a prostitute and move in with him. After receiving threats from two Turkish Muslims, she decides to accept his offer. Ali's son Nejat (Baki Davrak
), a professor of German literature, does not have time to respond to the prospect of living with a woman of "easy virtue" before Ali is stricken with a heart attack. He softens to her when he discovers that she sends shoes back home to Turkey for her 27-year-old daughter and wishes that her daughter receive an education like him.
Back home from the hospital, Ali suspects that the other two may have become lovers. When his drunken demands of Yeter make her threaten to leave, he strikes her, accidentally killing her. Ali is sent to prison.
Nejat travels to Istanbul
to search for Yeter's daughter, Ayten (Nurgül Yeşilçay
), and assume responsibility for her education. Unable to locate her through her family, he posts flyers of Yeter throughout the area in the hopes that it will lead to the daughter. When he posts a flyer in a small German language bookstore that happens to be for sale, he finds himself charmed into buying it.
Lotte's Death
A plainclothes officer loses his gun on the street during a riot. A hooded figure scoops it up and is pursued on foot by a battalion of uniformed officers, barely managing to hide the contraband on a random rooftop. This is Ayten, a member of a Turkish Communist resistance group.
When her cell is raided, she flees Turkey and takes up a new identity with political allies in Bremen, Germany. However, even there, she has a falling out when she is unable to pay her debts, and thus finds herself on the street with barely a euro to her name. Her mother's number is lost, so she lives illegally and searches for her in local shoe shops.
Lotte, a university student, offers to help her with food, clothes, and a place to stay—a gesture which is not particularly welcomed by her mother, Susanne. Ayten and Lotte become lovers and Lotte decides to help Ayten search for her mother. The quest is cut short when a traffic stop exposes Ayten's illegal status and she attempts a claim of political asylum
. Despite Susanne's financial support, Germany rules that Ayten has no legitimate fear of political persecution. She's deported and immediately imprisoned.
Lotte is devastated. She travels to Turkey to try to free Ayten, but quickly realizes how little hope there is, as she is facing 15 to 20 years in jail. Susanne pleads with her to think of her future and return home. When Lotte refuses, her mother refuses to assist her further. Lotte gravitates to Nejat's bookstore and ends up renting a spare room from him.
Finally granted a prison visit with Ayten, Lotte follows her imprisoned lover's request and retrieves the handgun Ayten acquired in the riot. But Lotte's bag, with the gun inside, is snatched by a crew of boys that she chases through their neighborhood. When finally she finds them in a vacant lot, one of the boys is inspecting the gun. She demands he return it, but he points it at her and fires, killing her instantly.
The Edge of Heaven (literally, On the Other Side)
Upon his release, Ali is deported to Turkey, returning to his property in Trabzon
on the Black Sea coast.
After her daughter's death, Susanne goes to Istanbul to see where her daughter had been living the past few months. She meets Nejat and reads her daughter's diary; she decides to take on her daughter's mission of freeing Ayten from prison. Susanne's visit to Ayten—an offer of forgiveness and support—leads the younger woman to exercise her right of repentance. As a result, she wins her freedom.
Susanne asks Nejat about the story behind a Bayram
they notice, learning that it commemorates Ibrahim's sacrifice of his son Ishmael. She comments that there is the same story in the Bible, where Abraham
is asked to sacrifice his son Isaac. Nejat reminisces about being scared by the story as a child and asking his father if he would sacrifice him if God told him to. When asked by Susanne what his father's answer was, Nejat tells her that his father said "He would make God his enemy in order to protect me".
Nejat removes the poster of Yeter from the shop's noticeboard. He asks Susanne to look after his shop while he is gone, and drives to Trabzon where his father is living.
Susanne offers Ayten a place to stay with her at Nejat's house. When Nejat arrives in Trabzon, his father is out fishing, so he waits for him on the beach.
and Hamburg
in Germany; at Taksim
and Kadıköy
in Istanbul
, at the Black Sea
coast in Trabzon
in Turkey.
reported that 89% of critics gave the movie positive reviews, based on 61 reviews. Metacritic
reported the film had an average score of 86 out of 100, based on 24 reviews.
received at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival
, the film won the Lino Brocka Award in the International Cinema category at the 2007 Cinemanila International Film Festival
in the Philippines
. The film also won five awards at Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival
(best director, editing, supporting actor, supporting actress and special jury award).
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
written and directed by Fatih Akın
Fatih Akin
Fatih Akın is a German film director, screenwriter and producer of Turkish descent.- Personal life :Akın was born in 1973 in Hamburg to parents of Turkish ethnicity...
. The film won the Prix du scénario
Best Screenplay Award (Cannes Film Festival)
The Best Screenplay Award is an award presented at the Cannes Film Festival. It is chosen by the jury from the 'official section' of movies at the festival...
at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival
2007 Cannes Film Festival
The 2007 Cannes Film Festival, the sixtieth, ran from 16 to 27 May 2007. Wong Kar-wai's My Blueberry Nights opened the festival, and Denys Arcand's The Age of Ignorance closed...
. It was selected for Germany's entry to contest at the 2007 Oscar
80th Academy Awards
The 80th Academy Awards ceremony honored the best films in 2007 and was broadcast from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California on ABC beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST/8:30 p.m. EST, February 24, 2008 . During the ceremony, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented Academy Awards in 24...
but didn't make the selection of five nominated films.
After making its worldwide debut at the Cannes Film Festival
2007 Cannes Film Festival
The 2007 Cannes Film Festival, the sixtieth, ran from 16 to 27 May 2007. Wong Kar-wai's My Blueberry Nights opened the festival, and Denys Arcand's The Age of Ignorance closed...
in France, the film was shown at several international film festival
Film festival
A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality. More and more often film festivals show part of their films to the public by adding outdoor movie screenings...
s. It was released in Germany on September 27, 2007.
Plot
Yeter's DeathRetired widower Ali Aksu (Tuncel Kurtiz
Tuncel Kurtiz
Tuncel Kurtiz is a Turkish theatre, movie and TV series actor, playwright and film director. Since 1964, he has acted in more than 70 movies, including many international productions.- Biography :...
), a Turkish immigrant living in the German city of Bremen
Bremen
The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...
, believes he has found a solution to his loneliness when he meets a Turkish prostitute, Yeter Öztürk (Nursel Köse
Nursel Köse
Nursel Köse is a German actress of Turkish descent. She starred in the internationally acclaimed film The Edge of Heaven.-References:...
). He offers her a monthly payment to stop working as a prostitute and move in with him. After receiving threats from two Turkish Muslims, she decides to accept his offer. Ali's son Nejat (Baki Davrak
Baki Davrak
Baki Davrak is a Turkish-German actor who is known for his leading role in the film The Edge of Heaven which won the Prix du scénario at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival.- Filmography :...
), a professor of German literature, does not have time to respond to the prospect of living with a woman of "easy virtue" before Ali is stricken with a heart attack. He softens to her when he discovers that she sends shoes back home to Turkey for her 27-year-old daughter and wishes that her daughter receive an education like him.
Back home from the hospital, Ali suspects that the other two may have become lovers. When his drunken demands of Yeter make her threaten to leave, he strikes her, accidentally killing her. Ali is sent to prison.
Nejat travels to Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
to search for Yeter's daughter, Ayten (Nurgül Yeşilçay
Nurgül Yesilçay
Nurgül Yeşilçay, née Gültekin, is a Turkish stage and film actress.-Biography:Nurgül Yeşilçay was born in Afyonkarahisar, Turkey in 1976. She studied drama at the State Conservatoire of Anadolu University in Eskişehir...
), and assume responsibility for her education. Unable to locate her through her family, he posts flyers of Yeter throughout the area in the hopes that it will lead to the daughter. When he posts a flyer in a small German language bookstore that happens to be for sale, he finds himself charmed into buying it.
Lotte's Death
A plainclothes officer loses his gun on the street during a riot. A hooded figure scoops it up and is pursued on foot by a battalion of uniformed officers, barely managing to hide the contraband on a random rooftop. This is Ayten, a member of a Turkish Communist resistance group.
When her cell is raided, she flees Turkey and takes up a new identity with political allies in Bremen, Germany. However, even there, she has a falling out when she is unable to pay her debts, and thus finds herself on the street with barely a euro to her name. Her mother's number is lost, so she lives illegally and searches for her in local shoe shops.
Lotte, a university student, offers to help her with food, clothes, and a place to stay—a gesture which is not particularly welcomed by her mother, Susanne. Ayten and Lotte become lovers and Lotte decides to help Ayten search for her mother. The quest is cut short when a traffic stop exposes Ayten's illegal status and she attempts a claim of political asylum
Right of asylum
Right of asylum is an ancient juridical notion, under which a person persecuted for political opinions or religious beliefs in his or her own country may be protected by another sovereign authority, a foreign country, or church sanctuaries...
. Despite Susanne's financial support, Germany rules that Ayten has no legitimate fear of political persecution. She's deported and immediately imprisoned.
Lotte is devastated. She travels to Turkey to try to free Ayten, but quickly realizes how little hope there is, as she is facing 15 to 20 years in jail. Susanne pleads with her to think of her future and return home. When Lotte refuses, her mother refuses to assist her further. Lotte gravitates to Nejat's bookstore and ends up renting a spare room from him.
Finally granted a prison visit with Ayten, Lotte follows her imprisoned lover's request and retrieves the handgun Ayten acquired in the riot. But Lotte's bag, with the gun inside, is snatched by a crew of boys that she chases through their neighborhood. When finally she finds them in a vacant lot, one of the boys is inspecting the gun. She demands he return it, but he points it at her and fires, killing her instantly.
The Edge of Heaven (literally, On the Other Side)
Upon his release, Ali is deported to Turkey, returning to his property in Trabzon
Trabzon
Trabzon is a city on the Black Sea coast of north-eastern Turkey and the capital of Trabzon Province. Trabzon, located on the historical Silk Road, became a melting pot of religions, languages and culture for centuries and a trade gateway to Iran in the southeast and the Caucasus to the northeast...
on the Black Sea coast.
After her daughter's death, Susanne goes to Istanbul to see where her daughter had been living the past few months. She meets Nejat and reads her daughter's diary; she decides to take on her daughter's mission of freeing Ayten from prison. Susanne's visit to Ayten—an offer of forgiveness and support—leads the younger woman to exercise her right of repentance. As a result, she wins her freedom.
Susanne asks Nejat about the story behind a Bayram
Bayram (Turkey)
Bayram is the Turkic word for a nationally celebrated festival or holiday, applicable to both national or religious celebrations...
they notice, learning that it commemorates Ibrahim's sacrifice of his son Ishmael. She comments that there is the same story in the Bible, where Abraham
Abraham
Abraham , whose birth name was Abram, is the eponym of the Abrahamic religions, among which are Judaism, Christianity and Islam...
is asked to sacrifice his son Isaac. Nejat reminisces about being scared by the story as a child and asking his father if he would sacrifice him if God told him to. When asked by Susanne what his father's answer was, Nejat tells her that his father said "He would make God his enemy in order to protect me".
Nejat removes the poster of Yeter from the shop's noticeboard. He asks Susanne to look after his shop while he is gone, and drives to Trabzon where his father is living.
Susanne offers Ayten a place to stay with her at Nejat's house. When Nejat arrives in Trabzon, his father is out fishing, so he waits for him on the beach.
Cast
- Tuncel KurtizTuncel KurtizTuncel Kurtiz is a Turkish theatre, movie and TV series actor, playwright and film director. Since 1964, he has acted in more than 70 movies, including many international productions.- Biography :...
as Ali Aksu, a Turkish immigrant - Baki DavrakBaki DavrakBaki Davrak is a Turkish-German actor who is known for his leading role in the film The Edge of Heaven which won the Prix du scénario at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival.- Filmography :...
as Nejat Aksu, son of Ali, a German language teacher - Nursel KöseNursel KöseNursel Köse is a German actress of Turkish descent. She starred in the internationally acclaimed film The Edge of Heaven.-References:...
as Yeter Öztürk, a Turkish immigrant prostitute - Nurgül YeşilçayNurgül YesilçayNurgül Yeşilçay, née Gültekin, is a Turkish stage and film actress.-Biography:Nurgül Yeşilçay was born in Afyonkarahisar, Turkey in 1976. She studied drama at the State Conservatoire of Anadolu University in Eskişehir...
as Ayten Öztürk, daughter of Yeter, a Turkish student - Patrycia Ziolkowska as Charlotte "Lotte" Staub, a student
- Hanna SchygullaHanna SchygullaHanna Schygulla is a German actress and chanson singer. She is generally considered the most prominent German actress of the New German Cinema.-Life and career:Schygulla was born in Königshütte, Upper Silesia,...
as Susanne Staub, mother of Lotte
Production
The production shoot was in BremenBremen
The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...
and Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
in Germany; at Taksim
Taksim Square
Taksim Square situated in the European part of Istanbul, Turkey, is a major shopping, tourist and leisure district famed for its restaurants, shops and hotels. It is considered the heart of modern Istanbul, with the central station of the Istanbul Metro network...
and Kadıköy
Kadiköy
Kadıköy is a large, populous, and cosmopolitan district of İstanbul, Turkey on the Asian side of the Sea of Marmara, facing the historic city centre on the European side of the Bosporus...
in Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
, at the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
coast in Trabzon
Trabzon
Trabzon is a city on the Black Sea coast of north-eastern Turkey and the capital of Trabzon Province. Trabzon, located on the historical Silk Road, became a melting pot of religions, languages and culture for centuries and a trade gateway to Iran in the southeast and the Caucasus to the northeast...
in Turkey.
Critical reception
The film received generally positive reviews from Western critics. The review aggregator Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reported that 89% of critics gave the movie positive reviews, based on 61 reviews. Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
reported the film had an average score of 86 out of 100, based on 24 reviews.
Top ten lists
The film appeared on many critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2008.- 2nd - Sean Axmaker, Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle Post-IntelligencerThe Seattle Post-Intelligencer is an online newspaper and former print newspaper covering Seattle, Washington, United States, and the surrounding metropolitan area...
- 2nd - Stephen HoldenStephen HoldenStephen Holden is an American writer, music critic, film critic, and poet.Holden earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Yale University in 1963...
, The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization... - 2nd - Steve Rea, The Philadelphia InquirerThe Philadelphia InquirerThe Philadelphia Inquirer is a morning daily newspaper that serves the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, metropolitan area of the United States. The newspaper was founded by John R. Walker and John Norvell in June 1829 as The Pennsylvania Inquirer and is the third-oldest surviving daily newspaper in the...
- 2nd - Wesley MorrisWesley MorrisWesley Morris is a film critic at The Boston Globe where he reviews films alongside Ty Burr. Morris and Burr also make regular appearances on NECN to discuss the latest films and do the weekly Take Two film review video series on Boston.com...
, The Boston GlobeThe Boston GlobeThe Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993... - 3rd - Dana Stevens, SlateSlate (magazine)Slate is a US-based English language online current affairs and culture magazine created in 1996 by former New Republic editor Michael Kinsley, initially under the ownership of Microsoft as part of MSN. On 21 December 2004 it was purchased by the Washington Post Company...
- 4th - Ann Hornaday, The Washington PostThe Washington PostThe Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
- 5th - A. O. ScottA. O. ScottAnthony Oliver Scott, known as A. O. Scott , is an American journalist and critic. He is a chief film critic for The New York Times, along with Manohla Dargis.-Background and education:...
, The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization... - 5th - Michael SragowMichael SragowMichael Sragow is a film critic and columnist who has written for The Baltimore Sun, The New Times, The New Yorker , The Atlantic and salon.com...
, The Baltimore SunThe Baltimore SunThe Baltimore Sun is the U.S. state of Maryland’s largest general circulation daily newspaper and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries....
- 6th - J.R. Jones, Chicago Reader
- 6th - Owen GleibermanOwen GleibermanOwen Gleiberman is an American film critic for Entertainment Weekly, a position he has held since the magazine's launch in 1990. From 1981–89, he worked at the Boston Phoenix....
, Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment WeeklyEntertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture... - 6th - Rick Groen , The Globe and MailThe Globe and MailThe Globe and Mail is a nationally distributed Canadian newspaper, based in Toronto and printed in six cities across the country. With a weekly readership of approximately 1 million, it is Canada's largest-circulation national newspaper and second-largest daily newspaper after the Toronto Star...
- 7th - Ann Hornaday, The Washington PostThe Washington PostThe Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
- 9th - Anthony LaneAnthony LaneAnthony Lane is a film critic for The New Yorker magazine.-Personal life:Lane lives in Cambridge with Allison Pearson, a British writer and former Daily Mail columnist...
, The New YorkerThe New YorkerThe New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast... - 9th - Stephen Farber, The Hollywood ReporterThe Hollywood ReporterFormerly a daily trade magazine, The Hollywood Reporter re-launched in late 2010 as a unique hybrid publication serving the entertainment industry and a consumer audience...
- 9th - Tasha Robinson, The A.V. ClubThe A.V. ClubThe A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
- 10th - Kirk Honeycutt, The Hollywood ReporterThe Hollywood ReporterFormerly a daily trade magazine, The Hollywood Reporter re-launched in late 2010 as a unique hybrid publication serving the entertainment industry and a consumer audience...
Awards and nominations
Following the Best Screenplay AwardBest Screenplay Award (Cannes Film Festival)
The Best Screenplay Award is an award presented at the Cannes Film Festival. It is chosen by the jury from the 'official section' of movies at the festival...
received at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival
2007 Cannes Film Festival
The 2007 Cannes Film Festival, the sixtieth, ran from 16 to 27 May 2007. Wong Kar-wai's My Blueberry Nights opened the festival, and Denys Arcand's The Age of Ignorance closed...
, the film won the Lino Brocka Award in the International Cinema category at the 2007 Cinemanila International Film Festival
Cinemanila International Film Festival
The Cinemanila International Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Manila, the Philippines. It was founded by Filipino filmmaker Amable "Tikoy" Aguiluz in 1999....
in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
. The film also won five awards at Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival
Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival
The Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival is a film festival, held annually since 1963 in Antalya, is the most important national film festival in Turkey...
(best director, editing, supporting actor, supporting actress and special jury award).
- On October 24, 2007, the European ParliamentEuropean ParliamentThe European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
awarded its newly established LUX prize for European cinema to Fatih Akın's film. - On November 10, 2007, the film won the Critics Award at the European Cinema Festival, in SevilleSevilleSeville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...
. - On December 1, 2007, the film won the best screenplay award at European Film Awards, while it was also nominated for best director and best film.
- Hanna SchygullaHanna SchygullaHanna Schygulla is a German actress and chanson singer. She is generally considered the most prominent German actress of the New German Cinema.-Life and career:Schygulla was born in Königshütte, Upper Silesia,...
won the Best Supporting ActressNational Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting ActressThe National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress is one of the annual awards given by the National Society of Film Critics.This awards was given for the first time in 1967 to Marjorie Rhodes for her role in The Family Way....
award from the National Society of Film CriticsNational Society of Film CriticsThe National Society of Film Critics is an American film critic organization. As of December 2007 the NSFC had approximately 60 members who wrote for a variety of weekly and daily newspapers.-History:...
.