Feo Aladag/Germany/ 119 minutes/ N/C 15+
Shown as part of Glasgow Film Festival @ Cineworld, 18th -19th February.
When We Leave explores the perspective of women in Germany’s Turkish community: after starting a family in Istanbul,
German born Umay (Sibel Kekilli) returns to Germany to find solace in her family after escaping from the regular beatings meted out by her traditionally-minded husband. Unfortunately, with a very conservative outlook themselves, her family’s initial warm welcome turns frosty, unsupportive and eventually outright hostile as Umay stands by her decision to go it alone with her young son, getting a job, an education and a new life in Germany. The inter-generational conflict is underlined by Umay’s dual cultural identity – though Turkish and Muslim, she considers Germany home, while her father, resident in Germany, refers to Turkey as “home,” exhorting her to go back to the motherland and her husband.
Though the film may be shot in a low-key European realist style, it gradually loses credibility. Despite noteworthy performances and sensitive direction, the story is simply too worthy and issue-driven with the characters not amounting to anything more than mouthpieces for clashing cultural perspectives. While the film’s anti-domestic violence message is essential and commendable, the rest lacks subtlety. The absence of rounded characterisation results in the Turkish family being painted as traditional to the point of fundamentalist and murderous, with German society depicted as uniformly helpful, caring, liberal and liberating. While Aladag’s good intentions are unquestionable, it seems a shame that such important and topical issues are reduced to a picture that even the likes of the English Defence League would approve of.