Sorry if I (probably incorrectly) employ a favorite German wine connoisseur term for this film of great quality. But we were very impressed by Fatih Akin's newest film, and are more eager than ever to see his previous hit, "Head-On" ("Gegen die Wand," 2004). And we're not alone: Akin won the Cannes Best Screenplay award, and he and his film are nominated for several more at this weekend's European Film Awards in Berlin.
I'm not terribly fond of the English title chosen by the distributors (it looks like the film has been released in Canada, and will come out in the UK early next year; no release date visible yet for the United States). The French title (it's just been released in Belgium) is "De l'autre cote," a direct interpretation of the German original, "On the Other Side." But I can see the symbolism of choosing the reference to Heaven: I'm not giving anything away that the director doesn't announce (on screen, in the titles given major film segments) when I say that Death figures prominently in this beautiful film.
On the other side, in a more literal, earthly sense, can also refer to Germany and Turkey, separated by more than the Bosporus. The film, which at times has a smidgen of the asynchronous style of "Babel," is equally at home in Bremen or Istanbul. That is more than can be said of some of the characters, who have more than their share of brushes with culture shock.
Though we know, almost from the beginning, that a couple of the characters will die, one of the film's "charms" is that danger - and death - don't necessarily come from the side you most expect. And there are "sides" in Auf der anderen Seite: illegal immigrants vs. the police; Islamists vs. secularists; authority vs. insurgents. Watch this and get a subtle, concentrated dose of every story you have heard about Turkey: its European pretensions, undercurrents of political Islam, the restive Kurdish minority, and the Turkish diaspora in Europe, especially Germany. There are other "themes," too: father/son, mother/daughter, lesbian love, and expatriation/homesickness (including a German bookseller in Istanbul!).
Definitely a film to watch, and a director to follow.