Fatih Akin's new film “Ghosts” celebrates its German premiere at the Hamburg Film Festival

The setting of Fatih Akin's new film is impressive: it takes place in Hamburg. But not somewhere in the city, but on the television tower, in the harbor, in front of the town hall, between the exhibition halls and in the Ohlsdorf cemetery, in short, in great places that look even more impressive in the film from the right perspective, with the right lighting, than in reality. Especially since they are charged with new meaning by the events. A romantic tragedy takes place in the magnificent images. A young love ends before it really begins. Or not?

“Ghosts” by Fatih Akin celebrated its German premiere on Thursday at the Hamburg Film Festival in the presence of the director and co-author Ruth Toma in the Cinemaxx am Dammtor. The romantic film is almost entirely in a minor key, without sacrificing moments of absurd comedy. Anyone who leaves the cinema after almost two hours has not only had it, they have also done it. Because the theme of suicide, the theme of self-harm, the theme of accidental death, the theme of loss carry the film even more strongly than love and the ghosts themselves, which fortunately look exactly the same as they did before their death - i.e. not wandering through the night as clouds, with blurred contours or wafting around with strange glowing eyes.

Farasha (Mariam Dawoud) and Faris (Eren M. Güvercin) get to know each other at a high school graduation party that three schools celebrate together - in the former restaurant at the top of the Heinrich Hertz Tower. Both are 20 years old and are immediately drawn to each other when they take a sip of water. But fate takes a tragic turn: Farasha dies that same evening. Your soul then remains stubbornly between this world and the next. Faris grieves while Farasha looks for a way to connect with him, to be with him. Eventually she learns that she can meet Faris in his dreams for 40 nights - from another spirit who knows how to do this. This is also how the plural is explained in the German film title. In English the film is called “Ghost Song” – also a very justified title, the music concept with its main theme is reminiscent of films by Quentin Tarantino.

She seizes the opportunity to continue a relationship that has just begun, but she just can't let go of her happiness - and Faris can hardly believe his happiness - except in dreams. But if you want to be with someone who is dead, you can't just go on living as before, as you quickly realize. And 40 days is not an eternity either. The countdown is running. If you want to know how the story continues, you have to watch the film yourself. Ultimately, the plot thrives on surprising twists. In addition to the director, who only tells the story in a little too much detail and leisurely in the middle of the film, it is above all the pair of leading actors that deserve praise. Not only do both of them act fantastically - the fact that they look beautiful is somehow part of the Romeo and Juliet moment of the story.