Edge of Paradise

Did anyone catch that movie last night?? Honestly, I was floored... there's such a massive gap between American and international cinema... it’s like comparing Lady Gaga to some gritty indie legend else🙂
A little more info for those who missed it:

edge of paradise, an American-Turkish production
(THE EDGE OF HEAVEN, 2007)
Drama. An elderly Turkish man, Ali Akso (T. Kurtiz), lives in New York City with his son Nejat (B. Davrak), a professor teaching at a local university. Ali is still pretty sharp for his age and frequently visits a prostitute named Jessie (N. Köse). When he finds out Jessie is actually a Turkish woman named Yeter, he takes a liking to her even more and offers her a place to stay. Nejat isn't exactly thrilled about the arrangement, but over time, he grows to love Yeter once he realizes what a good woman she is—she looks after him and his father, and regularly sends money back to Turkey to fund the education of his 27-year-old daughter, Ayten (N. Yesilçay). After Yeter dies in a tragic accident—partly due to Alij's mistakes—Nejat heads to Turkey to track down Ayten...
In Istanbul, political unrest is tearing things up, and a young woman named Gül is right in the middle of the rebellion. Running to stay ahead of the police, Gül manages to make it to America and tries to find her mother. Hungry, broke, and homeless, she meets a kind college student named Lotte (P. Ziolkowska), who takes her in. The two fall in love and find a bit of happiness. Gül eventually confesses her real name is Ayten and explains why she fled Turkey. However, Lotte's conservative mother, Susanna (H. Schygulla), isn't exactly thrilled about having a rebellious young Turkish woman living under her roof, so the girls decide to move out together. But they don't get far before a police raid intercepts them. Ayten is arrested and sent back to Turkey, leaving Lotte to chase after her...
The story jumps around chronologically. For most of the film, it feels like an omnibus, following two separate threads—one with Alij and Yeter, and the other with Ayten and Lotte—until the end, where we finally see Nejat's journey through Turkey unfold linearly. This structure adds a layer of tension and reinforces the theme of coincidence; it makes you think everything is random until the end shows how nothing was accidental at all. It’s a heavy, unsettling film that gives you a raw look at life for immigrants in America, but more importantly, it sheds light on the reality of modern life in Turkey, which most people know nothing about. This movie didn't just hit home with audiences; critics went nuts for it too, evidenced by its run at major festivals and its haul of 22 awards. The writer, screenwriter, actor, director, and producer Fatih Akin was born in 1973 in New York City to a Turkish family. He started writing and directing when he was just eighteen in 1995, and he's already knocked out fourteen films. "edge of paradise" is his most decorated work, picking up top honors at the Golden Globes, the Munich Film Festival, and the Bangkok festival, along with the Academy Award for Best Picture and the European Film Award for Best Screenplay. It was nominated for the Palme d'Or, won the Academy Award for Best Screenplay at Cannes, and even snagged an Academy Award nomination. The lead actress playing the young Turkish woman, N. Yesilçay, is a total powerhouse in theater and TV. H. Schygulla plays Lotte's mother in a supporting role; she's a legendary icon of the Fassbinder era.

Cast: Nurgül Yesilçay, Baki Davrak, Tuncel Kurtiz, Nursel Köse, Patrycia Ziolkowska, Hanna Schygulla
Screenplay: Fatih Akin
Director: Fatih Akin

I'm actually pretty bummed I missed it 😠.

Really great movie. 🙏
Though I actually skipped the first half hour.

(Right after that old guy killed that girl—or whoever she was 🤷).

🙏

Yeah, I actually started watching that just a few minutes before it happened... Honestly, it sucks that we don't get those solid indie or international films on PBS anymore. Every once in a while, they'd throw something out there that actually caught you off guard, but now? Between all this new stuff and what they're running on the other networks, there's really no saving it.

A solid film..
No, you simply can't pass up cinematic gems like this one. I find myself checking the TV listings almost "professionally," hunting for something that feels different—something that doesn't have that typical Hollywood formula.
And frankly, I don't regret paying for a subscription. One single masterpiece like this holds more value than an entire week of mindless programming on networks like ABC or NBC, which just feel overpriced and hollow.

🙂

Sam Smith3 said:A solid film..
No, you simply can't pass up cinematic gems like this one. I find myself checking the TV listings almost "professionally," hunting for something that feels different—something that doesn't have that typical Hollywood formula.
And frankly, I don't regret paying for a subscription. One single masterpiece like this holds more value than an entire week of mindless programming on networks like ABC or NBC, which just feel overpriced and hollow.

🙂

Signed.

The movie is honestly incredible.
It reminds me so much of how blown away I was by that French film, Class.
I actually caught it on PBS last week.

PBS started airing some European cinema this Monday.
First up was Lornin's Silence, followed by Class, and this Monday they’re showing Far From Paradise. Honestly, all three are top-tier films. On Wednesday, they'll switch to Asian films—they seem to pick only the heavy hitters—though that really depends on whether there's a big football game scheduled or not.

amberskipper3 said:The movie is honestly incredible.
It reminds me so much of how blown away I was by that French film, Class.
I actually caught it on PBS last week.

I watched it!!

👍

On PBS and local channels, they're mostly showing European movies every single day... maybe they'll throw in an American one here and there 😁

Noah Smith8 said:On PBS and local channels, they're mostly showing European movies every single day... maybe they'll throw in an American one here and there 😁

Exactly! And here we are, hunting for them with a magnifying glass on our own TV stations.
I was actually blown away by that French movie "chaos" about a month or so ago...

Unfortunately, I missed both Class and Chaos. I’ll definitely be tuning in on Monday to see what’s playing, though. It feels like everything they show is a real cinematic gem. They have a decent lineup of international films on PBS around 10 AM—it's a shame because that's such a tough time slot for TV viewership. I really hope they rerun them during prime time.
Edge of paradise was two hours of pure, seamless storytelling. I absolutely loved every minute of it.
Let's start a petition! We need more international cinema on PBS. We get plenty of Hollywood blockbusters already!😁

Such an incredible movie! If only we saw more high-quality international cinema on channels like PBS...
And honestly, Chaos was fantastic too.

I just finished watching a movie, and honestly, it was phenomenal.👍