Nur eine Frau

It could have been great, the first person narrative after the crime compromised the storytelling

This movie made me so angry! It is heartbreaking when you see how this woman tries to get into her own life and the patriarchal family destroys everything. Great acting and cinematography feel like you are part of the story. A must watch.

"Nur eine frau" is a real womens movie. It was made by a female director (Sherry Hormann), shot by a female cinematographer (Judith Kaufmann) and has a subject (honor killing) with mostly female victims. At the beginning of the film the dead of the lead character is showed using archive material, so there is no real tension in the usual sense of the word. Nevertheless the movie aroused different emotion in me.

The first emotion was disbelief. Daughter Aynur (Almila Bagriacik), just 16 years old, is forced into a marriage by the Surucu family. When the husband turns out to be violent and the, meanwhile pregnant, Aynur flees back to her family she is anything but welcome. Did she do everything her husband ordered her to do? Did she please him enough in bed? No wonder Aynur leaves the house and starts living on her own, That is the moment when the trouble really starts, because she is threatening the honor of the family.

In comparison with the Surucu family the five sisters in "Mustang" (2015, Deniz Gamze Erguven) are nearly living in a liberal family! Is this not a bit overdone? Is this not a caricuture? The answer is in the first place that the story is based on real facts. In the second place it is hard to make a "nuanced" film about such a horrible subject as honor killing. Of course not all Muslim families are like this, but this is shown in the film. The oldest brother is much more enlighted than his younger brothers. Finally, although I don't know the precise statistics, it is clear that the case of Aynur does not stand alone. In this context I would like to call attention to the various possible meanings of the title "Nur eine frau". "Nur" can be translated as "only" and stands for the low status of a woman in the fundamentalist version of the Muslim religion the Surucu family is adhering to. "Eine" can be translated as "one" and is meant to underline that Aynur is just an example is of a much broader problem.

After the disbelief came the curiosity (from the moment that Aynur left home until she was killed).

What was behind the fiercely hatred of the brothers (except the oldest one)? It was obvious that family was more important for them than the individual. But why was the responsibilty to keep the family honor high so unilaterally assigned to women? Was the hatred of the brothers purely religiously motivated or was it also a struggle to hold on to the power that men are in charge just because they are men and not because of their own merits?

Why didn't the women in the family (mother and sisters) support Aynur?

Why didn't Aynur see the danger, although she was warned by her oldest (and enlighted) brother?

This middle part of the movie raised many questions without giving a direct answer. Perhaps it is the most interesting part of the movie.

The end of the film made me very mad.

The way the assassination of Aynur is planned within the family and celebrated when it is done.

If you are convinced that killing your sister is nothing less than your religious duty, just bear the consequences. In stead of this the girlfriend of the murderer is put under pressure to produce a false alibi. She doesn't do this, after which she has to go undercover.

All in all the Surucu family is in my opinion not some disadvantaged family with retarded religious beliefs but operated more like a criminal organisation.

The emotions described above made it very difficult to assess the quality of the film.

The choice of the subject is courageous.

The middle part, raising more questions than giving answers was for me the most interesting.

Rauand Taleb, playing the youngest brother / murderer, did a very good job. He really scared me with the intensity of his hatred.

The film gives a lot of emotions. And its status of real fact reflection gives to its message an universal value. A great film about faith and about life as tool to become yourself. The story is simple and, in essence, familiar. The film gives only facts . And their consequences. And the performance is real inspired . Portrait of a sacrifice as high price of love. The love for family and, in same measure, the love for life. Short, a wisedome lesson.

Sibel Kekilli played a character inspired by Sürücü in the 2010 movie "When we leave", which was infinitely better than this one. That film's director Feo Aladag is herself of migrant origin, whereas Sherry Hormann is German and mostly known for television and romantic comedies. This explains the distinct lack of subtlety. "A regular Woman" has an artificial feel, whereas "When we leave" is a deep psychological view of a woman who has to go through such an ordeal. Kekilli's performance is the strongest of her career - she was cast for "Game of Thrones" after that - and mirrors her own life (she is of Kurdish origin, and her family cut her loose when she left the house). The actress here lacks charisma and goes through the motions like performing on a high school stage.

As someone who lived in Berlin and had many Turkish friends and relationships, I can confirm that everything in this film is factually true. It does, however, leave out the accompanying factors of this situation. For instance, the Kurds are a particularly close-knit community because of their persecution in Turkey; since Kurdish was forbidden in public use, there has been no higher education in that language. That explains why migrant Kurds often appear particularly traditional. Also, religious fanaticism is a way for them to connect to other Sunni Muslim expats who otherwise resent them, like Turkish nationalists. Given that the film does show how indoctrination in German mosques happens, this is a missed opportunity - one of many.

All in all, "A Regular Woman" recounts an important story in a lackluster, box-checking way that does not do Hatun Sürücü's legacy justice. There is a German phrase to describe well-meant, but overly zealous and therefore ineffective measures - "Holzhammermethode", using a wooden hammer. It sums up this film quite appropriately.