NOW IT'S TIME FOR A LITTLE JOURNEY: "IM JULI"

Ok, I got you with the German title, didn’t I? Well, the thing is, a Turkish film doesn’t necessarily mean a film in Turkish, right? It could also mean a Turkish director – in this case Fatih Akın. Mr. Akın is actually quite well known around Europe, but more so in his native Germany. Mr. Akın is the son of one of the many Turkish families immigrated to the country. He grew up there and was honored at the Berlin film festival with a Golden Bear, but his films are always somehow connected to Turkey – sometimes they even take place in Turkey – but they usually have more to do with the Turkish minority living in Germany. Im Juli is a wonderful, touching film about love, fate and adventure. It is one of his better known films – and for good reason.
Daniel is a teacher’s assistant who lives in Hamburg. He is shy and quiet, his students don’t take much notice of him, in fact adventure doesn’t even figure in the periphery of his life. But on the last day of term, things begin to change. A mysterious and beautiful stranger (Juli, who he actually passes every day on his way back from work without noticing) sells him a ring. The ring is, apparently, an ancient Mayan lucky charm, in the shape of the sun. She also gives him a flyer to a party and tells him that if he goes there, he will meet the love of his life, who he will recognize thanks to the sun motif. Daniel doesn’t believe in this but goes to the party anyway – and guess what, the charm works! Coincidence brings him face to face with Melek, a girl of Turkish origin on her way to Istanbul. She is looking for a place to stay, one beer leads to another and Melek ends up staying over at Daniel’s place (as in she sleeps there – literally not metaphorically)before heading off to Istanbul. All Daniel knows is that she will be meeting someone in Ortaköy – a neighborhood in Istanbul near the Bosphorus bridge in one week’s time. Daniel then makes a big decision. He is going to drive down to Istanbul, be there on Friday and see Melek again. This impromptu journey to follow his fate will prove more adventurous and will teach him more than he had ever, ever bargained for.
The thing I liked the most about Im Juli is how real all the characters are. None of them are perfect, dashing or overly moral. That is, I think, what makes the massive coincidences Akın has sprinkled along the film easier to stomach. It is, for all intents and purposes a road-movie. The two “things” of the movie are the characters and the road. The film is born out of their interaction. And some of the coincidences, I have to say, are a little… You know. I mean yes, the main idea of the film is fate, that some things were meant to be, that you have to travel a long way sometimes just to learn a simple lesson. And I am not averse to a few coincidences; I mean I love Jim Jarmusch and I also loved Slumdog Millonaire, the film that kinda became the reference point for such films in modern times, but still… Mind you, Akın chose the right place to place the coincidences, the route takes us largely through the Balkans, an unpredictable an exciting place, with a warm and unpredictable populace. So I mean OK, overall the background has sort of been prepared. They are not unbelievable in themselves; there are just rather a lot of them. But I mean, one sympathizes so much with poor Daniel, and get so into his quest to find his destiny and his true love, by the end you are ready to overlook all that and are just rooting for him to succeed. So yes. A good’un. It’s the kind of thing you watch with your girlfriends over a box of chocolates. And by the way, if nothing else it is relieved to see a (believable) bewildered man being taken advantage of by women for a change. Maybe not a typically Turkish movie in a lot of ways – but still Turkish enough to be able identified as part of the family. An interesting experience, I think you’ll like it.