A Regular Woman

Aynur, born in Berlin, escapes the man her family married her to in Turkey and tries to build a life with her son. She finds work, starts vocational training, takes off her headscarf. Her family sees this as shame and the pressure grows. Sherry Hormann directed. Almila Bagriacik plays Aynur. The source is real: the story of Hatun Surucu, killed by her brother in Berlin in 2005. The names are changed. The formal choice is to have the murdered woman tell it herself. Aynur narrates after her death, looking straight at the camera, which stops the subject collapsing into a victim narrative. The telling is dry and distanced, moving without generating melodrama, and the killing at the end is kept short. It caused argument in Germany. Some critics said the film flattened the migrant family; others said the case had gone insufficiently examined for too long. Who it is for: viewers who can take hard German drama based on real events. Who it is not for: anyone unable to carry the weight of the subject.