Love, by accident

"Head On" Not rated Playing at Dole Cannery 1/2

What a curious and involving slice-of-life film about destiny, hopelessness, despair, deceit, cruelty and dreams set in the Turkish migrant community in Germany.

This very gritty vision of life on the edge may take the viewer on a journey of despair but realistically shows how love can sneak into your life when you least expect or even want it.

Cahit is a very angry guy suffering after the death of his wife and finds solace in drunken bingeing and drugs to erase the memory. He's one of life's losers, a 40-something punk who lives for alcohol and earns a meager living collecting glasses in a dingy bar.

He decides the best way to stop his grief is to crash his car into a brick wall, which gets him sent to a mental ward. There he meets fellow a Turk, vivacious and young Sibel, who's given to her own suicidal moments. She's in the hospital because of a suicide attempt and now that she's out of her parents' influence she wants to experience all of life's pleasures and violent horrors.

Noticing Cahit's faded Turkish background, Sibel proposes marriage and despite the sudden nature of her request, he reluctantly agrees to enter into a sham marriage. The marriage could offer Sibel an escape from the control of her strict Muslim parents, who will only allow her daughter to move out of their home if she marries.

They are free to have sex with other people. But it's not long before Cahit is confused by Sibel's total embracing of her new sexual freedom. He becomes even more of a broken soul and grows increasingly jealous of his wife's philandering.

Sibel lives by night in Hamburg's clubs, picking up men and buying drugs on a regular basis while Cahit drinks and visits an old girlfriend.

"Cahit!" Sibel yells to him in a bar one night as she leaves with a new male friend. "I'm going to get laid tonight!"

Slowly the two are drawn together as regular trips to Sibel's suspicious family begin to give them a shared bond. Cahit tries to put his Turkish history behind him and integrate into German life, but his relationship with his new in-laws forces him to confront his past. His attempts to speak broken Turkish with them are both humorous and touching, and a threatening relationship evolves between him and his new brother-in-law.

When Sibel decides to redecorate his apartment it's the road to a more conventional couple's life together. A sexual relationship and lust turn into love and caring.

"Head On" transitions seamlessly from black comedy to tragedy in its depiction of the two clearly mismatched and ultimately star-crossed lovers. As expected, Cahit's possessive temper and Sibel's background block the road to happiness. They split after a fateful night's events and she's banished to Turkey.

"Head On" is sometimes violent and explicit but at its core is a powerful, enduring, albeit bittersweet, love story. It's also a successful examination of the culture clash facing expatriate Turks in Germany.

If there's any downside it's that "Head On" tries to be to do too much, so the viewer needs to pay strict attention. With the superb acting that isn't difficult.