Gegen die Wand [Head On] (2003)

Brewed according to the German purity law? A can of Beck's beer in his hand, all rebel in his suit, Cahit (Birol Ünel) stands in Hamburg-Altona. He looks sideways, reserved, at the “Deutschkei” around him, where the global pop culture of graffiti and punk has long since shaped existence. In Fatih Akin's film, a sham marriage with Sibel follows, but both characters remain maladjusted, no matter where life takes them. In Reflections from a Damaged Life, written in 1945 in American exile, Adorno states: “The melting pot was an institution of industrial capitalism let loose. The thought of getting into it conjures up martyrdom, not democracy.” (Minima Moralia, “66th Melange”)