Synopsis

His pupils play him up no end; he never gets served in trendy bars and even his doped up neighbour has more of a social life than he does.

It’s hard to imagine anybody more straight-laced, uptight or uncool than the young trainee teacher, Daniel, with his unfashionable trousers and his ‘sports casual’ polo shirt.



The whole town it seems is busy making holiday plans for the summer but lonely Daniel doesn’t have a clue what to do. But no sooner does he fall hopelessly in love with the beautiful Melek than he decides to follow her to Istanbul – and leave his straight-laced lifestyle behind.

Accompanied by the wacky jewellery salesgirl, Juli, who has long had a secret passion for Daniel, he sets off on the long journey from Hamburg to Turkey.

His wild odyssey through south eastern Europe becomes a journey into a new way of life for Daniel. Beaten up, seduced and mugged, on drugs for the first time in his life and, to cap it all, thrown into the jail by Turkish border guards, Daniel learns to fight for what he wants out of life.

This is a completely new Daniel, a different person, full of energy and bursting to get out there and live life to the full.

What has brought about this remarkable change? Is it because he’s worried about missing his appointment with Melek in Istanbul? Or is it Juli’s influence, who he is clearly beginning to like more and more?

Daniel learns that there’s more to life than dull physical equations, namely, the eternal rules of love. –Berlinale

Cast: Moritz Bleibtreu, Christiane Paul, Mehmet Kurtulus, Birol Ünel, Branka Katić, Sandra Borgmann, Ernest Hausmann, Gábor Salinger, Cem Akin, Fatih Akin

Berlinale (New German Films)