There are many good reasons not to miss the opportunity to see ‘Im Juli‘ (the English title is ‘In July‘), released on the screens in 2000, the second film written and directed by German-Turkish filmmaker Fatih Akin. First of all, it is a ‘good feeling’ movie, a romantic and funny story that never ceases to entertain. It is a film about young people at the age when everything is possible, with well-chosen actors who act with aplomb and good humor. Fatih Akin is a director with a remarkable ability to create atmosphere through images and characters, and some of the gags sprinkled throughout this film are memorable. Finally, the film made in 2000 takes place in a Europe with more borders and barriers between countries than today, but also a more optimistic one. The young heroes of that time could confidently look ahead. If Fatih Akin made a film today about the generation of the children of the film heroes, I think the tone would be very different.
‘Im Juli‘ is a road movie that tells an adventurous journey between Hamburg – the city where Fatih Akin was born, grew up and studied – and Istanbul – the bridge metropolis between Europe and Turkey, the country of origin of his parents. Daniel, the main hero of the film, is a young and handsome teacher, who decides to stay and spend his summer vacation in the city. His plans change when a street vendor named Juli (as in July) sells him a ring, guaranteed ‘authentic Maya’, with the sign of the sun, promising him that through it he will find love. In fact, Juli had set her sights on the handsome teacher, but unfortunately for her, at the party she invites him to, a beautiful Turkish girl with the name of an angel (Melek) and a blouse with … the sun sign on it first appears. Daniel falls in love instantly. Melek was on her way to Turkey and Daniel decides to follow in her footsteps, with an old car borrowed from a neighbor. The next day, on the highway at the exit of the city, he meets … Juli, who, disappointed, had decided to leave the city. The two embark on an adventure that crosses Europe, just enough time for Juli to teach the shy and naive professor a few lessons about life and try to convince him where true love awaits. On the way they will cross borders, destroy a few cars, get robbed and steal, meet all kinds of strange, funny, menacing or nice characters. Everything will become clear in Istanbul, under the sign of the sun and under the magnificent bridge between Europe and the East.
It is obvious that the film was made with talent and good humor. The main characters played by Moritz Bleibtreu and Christiane Paul are so charming that they make us forget that the story is full of coincidences that make it completely unbelievable. The scenes shot along the way, however, have authenticity, and the cast of characters, without completely avoiding stereotypes, is diverse and interesting, from a time when political correctness was not yet dominant. Two scenes, with suspense but also with humor, take place at the border crossing points between the countries of Europe, and they would no longer be possible today. This is yet another opportunity to observe how much the continent has changed since 2000. Fatih Akin is a director who knows how to invent (as he does in the scene of the meeting between Daniel and Melek) or improvise overcoming filming restrictions (crossing Romania presented as a sequence of stills using the pretext of finding a camera in a … stolen car). ‘Im Juli‘ is a youthful film, a film that entertains, a summer film that evokes nostalgia for the summers of yesteryear.