Die Fremde which means foreigner or stranger, is the title of the first movie by Feo Aladag, the Austrian director. The movie’s name is however translated to “When we leave” and has won several awards in different festivals such as Berlin and Tribeca film festivals.
Umay, the leading role, is a young woman of Turkish descent whose family has emigrated to Germany; however she is living with her husband and son in Istanbul. As a result of her husband’s violence towards her and her son, she decides to leave him for her family in Berlin, in the hope of starting a new life with a little help from them. Unfortunately, with all the reverence she has towards her family, they stick so obstinately to traditions still valued by the Turkish immigrant community, that not only they don’t welcome and help her but also make her life more miserable than she could imagine.
There are poignant scenes in the movie which make us wonder how destructive prejudice can be.
Umay’s husband, a typical traditional Middle-Eastern man, who treats a woman like a slave, comes to bed few hours after he has struck her against the wall, when she wanted to defend her helpless little child. Umay pretends to be asleep but her husband who sees her as nothing but a piece of flesh, gets on top of her and finishes up like an animal.
At home with her family in Berlin, Umay intends to break the ice at dinner and there we see how his younger brother shouts at her commandingly telling her she is not staying there long. Umay who is hopeful to persuade her father, tells him that her husband beats her but her father doesn’t seem to care: “He’s your husband; the hand that strikes is also the hand that soothes. A slap or two is no reason to run”
Umay is not a shrew; she just wants to live like a decent woman, have the basic rights and not to be beaten. But she’s asking for too much from the family who chooses the community over their daughter.
The movie depicts how authoritative Turkish men can be. I don’t say the old generation because not only the father is commanding but also Umay’s younger brother is even more prejudiced. His dogmatism reaches to the point that he coaxes his father to snatch Cem, Umay’s son, and to take him back to his father in Istanbul. To him, his sister has disgraced her family and by taking Cem from his father, Umay has made the child a bastard.
It is relieving that Umay is in a country where her basic rights are respected and the foreign society ruled by humane values, are less foreigner to her than her family. She leaves her family home for a shelter under police protection and starts working in a restaurant.
What is compelling in this movie, is Umay’s effort in convincing her family that she in fact reveres them and is not bringing shame and disgrace upon them. Umay’s first attempt in confronting her mother is in vain. Rana, Umay’s sister is getting married and upon hearing the story which had spread among the Turkish community, her suitor’s family oppose to the wedding. To them, Rana’s family has no honor.
It is so harshly striking to see how this lost honor is easily bribed. The question arises in my mind: What kind of honor is this that can be bought?
Umay tries once more, this time, dressed elegantly, she takes her son to her sister’s wedding where she’s warned by her youngest brother to leave. She persists, hoping to gain her family’s heart on this day where her sister could finally marry the man she was fond of. Instead, her brother greets her with violence, beats her and throws her out of the place.
I was flabbergasted to see her never ending effort when she went back to her family house and brought her father baklava in Ramadan few days after the wedding. Inside, I told myself, this girl is out of her mind. The director delicately made me a foreigner to Umay, though from a different aspect.
Umay doesn’t give up. She believes “blood is thicker than water” as her father used to say. Though her father finally asks her forgiveness on the deathbed, the price Umay paid in the end for his profound ignorance was high. The ignorance nurturing male chauvinism in his family.
Before watching the movie, I didn’t know that the German title meant “stranger” or “foreigner”; yet throughout the movie, I was constantly reminded of “the stranger” by Camus. Although the stories are way different but the sheer notion of foreigner, or stranger befitted Umay, who was a foreigner to her own family.
No comments:
Post a Comment