It's almost a miracle: This German film tries to seduce its viewers, and it succeeds! It tells the rather simple story of a young, intelligent man (Moritz Bleibtreu) who doesn't realize that the woman of his dreams (a dread-locked Christiane Paul) is right next to him. Instead he takes on an odyssey from Hamburg, Germany, to Istanbul, Turkey, crossing foreign and often enough hostile grounds (Bavaria, Austria, Yugoslavia, Romania, Bulgaria) to get there in time. Right from the beginning the film feels trustworthy - and it gets better all the time. The film is funny, romantic, yet always on the brink of being melodramatic with a glimpse of tragedy here and there. It's an irresistible combination that Germans almost never achieve. (And maybe they wouldn't have done it even with this script - director Fatih Akin is from Turkey!) Bleibtreu, who had a wonderful bit-part as a dumb, tarantinesque killer in "Knockin' on Heaven's door" is very appealing here, but it is the tall and beautiful Christiane Paul (from "Das Leben ist eine Baustelle"/Life is under construction), who delivers the emotional knockout punches. She's plain and simple gorgeous, a revelation to those of haven't had the pleasure of seeing her so far.
