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Türkisch für Anfänger

Turkish for Beginners (Türkisch für Anfänger) (translated)

Movie · 2012 · 15 people

Bora Dağtekin wrote and directed the 2012 German comedy Türkisch für Anfänger (Turkish for Beginners). A culture-clash comedy, it adapts Dağtekin's own ARD television series of the same name and was his debut as a film director. It retells the story of the series from scratch. Running about 105 minutes, it was produced by Rat Pack Filmproduktion in co-production with Constantin Film, ARD Degeto, BR, WDR, NDR, Panda Plus and Bluverde Filmproduktion.

The story begins when the Schneider and Öztürk families, on a trip to Thailand, survive an emergency landing on a remote island and are forced to get to know each other. Lena, who wants to escape her unhappy life, has comic adventures with a Turkish macho she met on the plane. Josefine Preuß plays Lena Schneider, Elyas M'Barek Cem Öztürk, Pegah Ferydoni Yağmur Öztürk and Adnan Maral Metin Öztürk, with Katja Riemann, Anna Stieblich and Arnel Taci also in the cast.

The whole TV cast except Emil Reinke returned for the film. It premiered in Munich on 6 March 2012 and opened in German cinemas on 15 March. In Russia it was released on 26 September 2013 with a 16+ rating.

DirectorBora Dağtekin
Production companyRat Pack Filmproduktion

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Cast

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Adnan Maral Adnan Maral Actor · 58 years old Katja Riemann Katja Riemann Film actor · 63 years old Josefine Preuß Elyas M'Barek Anna Stieblich Pegah Ferydoni Sonja Gerhardt Günther Kaufmann Annette Strasser Arnel Taci Eugen Bauder Katharina Kaali Nick Romeo Reimann Frederick Lau Marc Benjamin Puch

More from this director

Through different eyes

History & Society Lens Asks about the period, the social background and what the work reflects.

The distance between Turkish-origin families and German families in Germany is both the material and the source of humour here. Forcing the Schneiders and the Öztürks together on a desert island lifts debates about migration and integration out of everyday life and into something close to a laboratory. The set-up lets the film put prejudices openly on stage and poke fun at them, but it also risks reproducing stereotypes like the Turkish macho. Whether it satirises those clichés or simply uses them for laughs is left to each viewer's reading.

Family Viewer Asks whether the whole household can watch it; cares about humour and heart.

A culture-clash comedy sounds like family viewing, but note that it was released in Russia with a 16 age rating. So it is not for small children; it is better watched with teenagers and adults. Families living in Germany may recognise some of the situations. Two very different families being forced to get to know each other is a good topic to talk about afterwards.

Cinephile Looks at script, editing and directing choices; keeps a distance from formula films.

The most common mistake when bringing a TV series to the cinema is to shoot a long bonus episode that winks at loyal viewers. Dağtekin does the opposite: he tells the story from scratch and keeps the cast almost entirely intact. That makes the film watchable on its own for those who don't know the series, and gives those who do the chance to see familiar faces in a fresh start. On the other hand, the desert-island premise is too easy a dramatic shortcut for bringing the two families together; the conflict grows out of the situation's constraints rather than from the characters themselves. How well the director, in his first feature, carries the rhythm of television comedy onto the big screen is open to debate.

These are not reader reviews: they are short editorial takes written from different viewer perspectives with AI assistance. Reader reviews are below.

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