"UMMAH - Unter Freunden" is the first directorial effort from Cüneyt Kaya. And as you probably guessed correctly, it's a film about multiculturalism. Kaya is not a complete rookie though as he worked for example with director Hans Weingartner already on "Die Summe meiner einzelnen Teile" and he did a fine job here. It's not a masterpiece, but a very convincing overall result, especially for a first feature. The film stars Frederick Lau, mostly known for his portrayal of problem pupil Tim from Die Welle. This role brought him a German Film Award for Best Supporting Performance and he he proves nicely that he can carry a film playing the central character. Impressive filmography he already has for a 24-year-old, definitely one of Germany's biggest prospects. Anyway, here he plays Daniel Klemm, a social outcast, who gets put for protection reasons into a little Berlin flat by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, after killing two Nazis. Despite his general lack of sociability and inner demons, he soon manages to make friends in couple TV technicians working nearby. Unfortunately, the shadows from his past come back quickly to haunt him.
The film opens with a lot of tension and has you hooked up immediately even if it's just more of a prologues as we see Daniel in the blood of the Nazis and closes very dramatically as well. I won't go into detail about that, but the ending surely was one of the highlights of the film. I'm not entirely sure if positive or negative, i.e. if I loved to hate the ending or if I just hated it. In any case, it won't leave you unattached and I liked how the point of view changes compared to a comment about the role of the press department in the Nazi killings from much earlier in the film. The first and last scenes of the film are also the main reason for me why I'd rather categorize it as a drama than a comedy. Still, it has comedic parts as well like the TV-storyline or the part with poster hanging next to the kindergarten. Unfortunately I saw these scenes already like 20 times in the trailer before actually seeing the film, otherwise they may have been even funnier.
Another of my favorite scenes was the old Muslim man's skepticism about Daniel. It depicts accurately how the majority of the last generation really struggles with integrating and often prefers to stay with their kind. It's not that severe in the younger generation, but there's still boundaries waiting to be torn down. This younger generation is mostly demonstrated by Kida Khodr Ramadan who gives an excellent portrayal of comedy and drama and shows how the perfect balance between religion and adapting should be like. Burak Yigit and Mona Pirzad play their parts nicely too. Admittedly, they're not given too much material to show their talent but it's not like they diminished the quality of the film. On the contrary, really. Pirzad will hopefully get a chance in future projects to prove she's more than just a pretty face. Her scene at Daniel's door is among the most memorable ones. Pretty much everybody in the room wanted to slap him for his reaction and for not asking her in.
In any case, I recommend this movie. While I liked the political parts, my favorite sections were the ones of Daniel's integration slowly growing. On many occasions, it was a beautiful story about friendship and definitely made me curious about Kaya's future projects, which will hopefully be equally good.
The film opens with a lot of tension and has you hooked up immediately even if it's just more of a prologues as we see Daniel in the blood of the Nazis and closes very dramatically as well. I won't go into detail about that, but the ending surely was one of the highlights of the film. I'm not entirely sure if positive or negative, i.e. if I loved to hate the ending or if I just hated it. In any case, it won't leave you unattached and I liked how the point of view changes compared to a comment about the role of the press department in the Nazi killings from much earlier in the film. The first and last scenes of the film are also the main reason for me why I'd rather categorize it as a drama than a comedy. Still, it has comedic parts as well like the TV-storyline or the part with poster hanging next to the kindergarten. Unfortunately I saw these scenes already like 20 times in the trailer before actually seeing the film, otherwise they may have been even funnier.
Another of my favorite scenes was the old Muslim man's skepticism about Daniel. It depicts accurately how the majority of the last generation really struggles with integrating and often prefers to stay with their kind. It's not that severe in the younger generation, but there's still boundaries waiting to be torn down. This younger generation is mostly demonstrated by Kida Khodr Ramadan who gives an excellent portrayal of comedy and drama and shows how the perfect balance between religion and adapting should be like. Burak Yigit and Mona Pirzad play their parts nicely too. Admittedly, they're not given too much material to show their talent but it's not like they diminished the quality of the film. On the contrary, really. Pirzad will hopefully get a chance in future projects to prove she's more than just a pretty face. Her scene at Daniel's door is among the most memorable ones. Pretty much everybody in the room wanted to slap him for his reaction and for not asking her in.
In any case, I recommend this movie. While I liked the political parts, my favorite sections were the ones of Daniel's integration slowly growing. On many occasions, it was a beautiful story about friendship and definitely made me curious about Kaya's future projects, which will hopefully be equally good.
