Head-On

Gegen die Wand (2004)

Timing: 1:57 (117 min)

7.448/10
524

All about film

Video 0

Photo 18

Actors and characters

Release date

2004-03-11

Country

Germany, Turkey

Production

ARTE, NDR, Bavaria Film International, Corazón International, Panfilm, Wüste Filmproduktion

Genre

Drama, Romance

Budget

$0

Revenue

$11 030 861

Website

http://www.gegendiewand.de/

Director

Fatih Akin

Actors

Sibel Kekilli, Birol Ünel, Güven Kıraç, Meltem Cumbul, Adam Bousdoukos, Mehmet Kurtuluş, Stefan Gebelhoff, Catrin Striebeck, Demir Gökgöl, Cem Akin
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Andreas Schreitmüller, Fatih Akin, Stefan Schubert, Ralph Schwingel, Mehmet Kurtuluş, Jeanette Würl, Andreas Thiel

Operator

Rainer Klausmann

Composer

Maceo Parker

Artist

Audition

Harika Uygur, Mai Seck

Editing

Andrew Bird
All team (28)

• All filming was done on location and almost always with natural light.
• All three actresses playing the wives with whom Sibel speaks auditioned for the role of the main character.
• During filming, doctors told Birol Ünel that he needed to stop drinking, otherwise a fatal outcome was inevitable. The actor quit drinking and lost a lot of weight, which is noticeable in the second part of the film. At one point, he became so ill during the work on a scene that filming had to be stopped.
• Most of the actors filmed in their own clothes. This was done to make them feel less constrained, but mainly due to budgetary limitations.
• In the scene where Jahit crushes glasses with his bare hands, chemical substances were used. Birol Ünel's hands were covered with a special compound that turned red when it came into contact with the liquid in the glasses (plastic).
• In one of the scenes on the streets of Istanbul, a cat runs across the frame from left to right. The animal ended up in the shot by chance and added a certain symbolism to the scene. During final editing, it was decided to leave these shots in.