Kebab Connection: Tragic and Comedic Explorations of Contemporary German-Turkish Relations REIKA EBERT AND ANN BECK M URRAY S TATE U NIVERSITY What does Shakespeare have to do with filmmaking in Hamburg? In this essay, we explore how and why the filmmakers of Kebab Connection (2005) 1 use Shakespearean references, elements, and sequences to create connections between contemporary film and historical literature, traditional and popular cultures, and tragedy as well as comedy. We argue that director Anno Saul and co-writer Fatih Akin use the traditionally integrative dynamics of comedy and tragedy in an innovative way; and we examine how this move offers social pathways that promote multiculturalism in contemporary Germany. Kebab Connection is one of the first films to approach the topic of Turkish immigrant integration into Germany through the genre of comedy. It presents a playful, high-energy, entertaining, and thoughtfully crafted example of successful Turkish-German integration in a multiethnic neighborhood of the city of Hamburg. Perhaps because of current high levels of apprehension and tension among Germans about Muslims and Turkey’s aspirations to join the EU, Anno Saul and Fatih Akin draw on humor to demonstrate that people with diverse cultural backgrounds are able to build productive relationships despite miscommunication, fear, and doubt. We suggest that the film Kebab Connection attempts to facilitate new cultural perspectives by first bridging tragic and comedic structures and then upending both. In the film, Ibo, a young Turkish-German man, pursues his creative dream to make the first, full-length German Kung-Fu movie. His German girlfriend, Titzi, who is preparing for her audition for acting school, becomes pregnant with their child. Ibo’s father, a more traditional Turk, disowns Ibo because the expected baby will be half-German. When Ibo expresses his qualms about becoming a father, he is banished by Titzi until he can prove his willingness to be a father and partner. The story unfolds within a multicultural neighborhood in Hamburg, where competing and feuding restaurant owners - one Turkish, the other Greek - vie for customers. Ibo, Titzi, their friends, and enemies are all members of modern, urban pop culture who live, dream, communicate, and miscommunicate with each other in both actual and virtual space. 88 Reika Ebert and Ann Beck Although no academic article about Kebab Connection has been published, there were a variety of critical reviews written when the film was first released in April 2005. Some critics found the film to be a shallow and clichéd comedy because of its use of slapstick, idyllic and quick treatment of a variety of conflicts, and a typical happy ending. 2 Other reviewers saw the film as insightful about contemporary cultural differences. 3 The film’s strong parallels to Shakespeare’s works in both comedy and tragedy were not noted in these reviews. However, what we found most intriguing about the film is its rootedness in an international dramatic literary and film tradition. Within the classic structure of comedy, Kebab Connection takes on city ethnic rivalries, conflicts of fathers and sons, and, above all, love and the pursuit of happiness in an intercultural love story of a young German woman, Titzi, and her Turkish boyfriend, Ibo. The film examines issues of trust, faithfulness, and tradition. Inherently comedic, the film has a happy ending linked to Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream, but it unfolds against the backdrop of the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. In so doing, the film explores the potential for creativity, procreation, and catastrophe in human relations. As with most tragedies, contradictions based on ethical principles clashing with mundane self-interest are central to advancing the plot. This is also true for Kebab Connection. One innovative element regarding how such contradictions are disclosed in the film is the use of principled conversations in the virtual public spheres on the importance of love. These scenes are juxtaposed with the mundane conversations in the «real» lives of the protagonists within the film. In her virtual reality as Juliet and in his virtual reality as the hero of the kung-fu film shorts, Titzi and Ibo act from principled positions. However, when Ibo and Titzi engage each other in their «real» lives within the film, their interactions are often self-interested and selfish. Another tragic element reflected in the film is the miscommunication between the protagonists. As is true in Shakespeare’s plays, throughout the film the main characters engage each other, delay any engagement, fail to engage when it seems to matter most, and speak to each other in virtual, rather than actual time and space. These engaged, delayed, unspoken, and cross-purposed patterns of communication exemplify the literary form of tragedy. These patterns also typify the nature of contemporary intercultural communication about the familial, cultural, and urban conflicts portrayed in the film. Recitations of passages from Romeo and Juliet occur repeatedly throughout the film. The context for their recitation are practice sessions for Titzi and her female roommate as the two prepare an audition for entry into the School of Performing Art. In the second scene of the film, just after the credits, we Kebab Connection 89 hear the two women practicing sections of the play that express Juliet’s longing for Romeo: Komm Nacht, verhülle mit dem schwarzen Mantel mir das wilde Blut. Komm Romeo … (III.ii) We also hear passages that reflect loss in Juliet’s final words when she finds Romeo dead and desires death, rather than life without him: Ach, hält mein Romeo noch ein Glas in seiner Hand … Ich küsse deine Lippen in der Hoffnung, dass noch ein wenig Gift daran, So dass ich an dieser Ladung sterben kann. (V.iv) The first lines are a declaration of passionate love and desire. The second phrase is the harbinger of doom and destruction. The juxtaposition of Turks and Germans in urban proximity creates both feelings of attraction and revulsion - the consequence of powerful emotions between differently conceived, but bonded, identities. Just as Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet come from two warring families, so, too, do Titzi and Ibo come from two families that do not speak with each other. The families are opposed on principle based on their view of the differences in their respective cultures. When Ibo’s father is told that his son’s girlfriend is pregnant, he is most upset about her nationality as a German - the other. In a comedic flashback we see the father shaking his finger at the five-year old Ibo telling the young child «NEVER» to get a German girl pregnant. The camera shot is taken from the perspective of the young child, tilted upward at the agitated face of the looming father. By impregnating a German woman, Ibo has broken a fundamental family rule. In a heated argument following the flashback scene, the father disowns his son and Ibo immediately moves out of the family home. The father clarifies his reason for disowning his son when he laments to a neighbor that his son is having a child with an «infidel.» At the same time, Titzi’s mother hears of the pregnancy from her daughter. The mother expresses her opposition to Ibo’s ethnicity and worthiness by poignantly asking her daughter: Hast du schon einmal einen Türken einen Kinderwagen schieben sehen? 4 The immediate cut from the scene before any response is uttered by Titzi makes the implied negative response from her all the more obvious. By common stereotype, it is understood that a Turkish man will not participate in child rearing and is, therefore, not acceptable as a son-in-law to Titzi’s mother. In addition to the underlying theme of warring families, the film draws heavily on the sequence of plots, subplots, and characters in Romeo and Ju- 90 Reika Ebert and Ann Beck liet. The film is interwoven with a sequence of Kung-Fu video stories shown as oneto threeminute advertisements. These Kung-Fu ads are integral to and a prequel to the overall storyline of the «actual» reality of the film that centers on the problems of the star-crossed lovers. The short videos have been created by the actual reality character, Ibo, as movie-house advertisements for his uncle’s «King of Kebab» restaurant. They represent Ibo’s creative voice and they follow the same plotlines as the fights in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet: an initial clash and subsequent clashes of arms among various individuals and «gangs» in the city; declarations of love between protagonists; the downfall, banishment and death of the tragic hero; and the marriage of the lovers. In the first video subplot shown in the film - the opening scene of the film - we see a Kung-Fu fight between two men using long pizza spatulas as swords over something that is not initially clear or fully understood. This is similar to the opening scene in Romeo and Juliet (I.i), where Capulet servants insult and then embattle Montagues and their allies. The source of the insults and battle are long forgotten, an «ancient grudge» (Prologue 2). Other physical clashes between opponents occur throughout the Kung-Fu videos as they do in Romeo and Juliet (III,i). Alongside the images of clashing families, there are also declarations of love in both Kebab Connection and Romeo and Juliet. Through the protagonist characters in these video ads, Ibo indirectly declares his love for Titzi; and Titzi hears these declarations when she watches the advertisements at the local movie house. In more than one of the videos, the hero of the video is seriously rejected, injured, or killed. At the presentation of Ibo’s second commercial in a movie theatre, Titzi watches the video clip unseen by him. The narrative and visuals of his advertising video are based on 1950s Humphrey Bogart films in which the hero - played by Ibo himself - fights three gang members who all die and who also kill him. Blood dripping from their faces, one of them says, Alles nur wegen einer verdammten Braut. Ich hoffe, sie war es wert, Joey. While dying, Bogart/ Shanghai Joey/ Ibo responds, Das hoffe ich auch. 5 The camera then focuses on Titzi who has tears running down her cheek. In the scene immediately following, Titzi justifies calling Ibo and thus breaking the silence between them. In reference to Ibo’s video clip that she had just watched, she tells her roommate, Ich ruf ihn [Ibo] jetzt an, bevor er sich auch noch umbringt. 6 Kebab Connection 91 She interprets Ibo’s film as a message to her and she initiates the actual (rather than virtual) reaching out to him. While the «virtual reality» of filmmaking is Ibo’s creative voice, the creative voice of Titzi is represented in the literary and virtual Romeo and Juliet plotline interspersed throughout the «actual reality» scenes. Like Ibo, Titzi is unable to speak directly to Ibo about her love for him. She, too, tells Ibo of her love indirectly as she practices for and delivers passages from Romeo and Juliet for her audition. At Titzi’s examination and audition for the theater arts school near the end of her pregnancy, Ibo, who has not communicated with Titzi in months, sneaks into the theatre and watches as she recites Juliet’s passionate longing for Romeo. He, too, hears her speech as a message to him and acts in response. He runs outside and pulls two shiny rings out of a candy machine. Ibo had hand-crafted a dragon-shaped baby stroller for the newborn. He is pushing the baby cart through the street to show it to Titzi, but just before they meet, Titzi goes into labor and is taken to the hospital - incidentally by Ibo’s father, who is a taxi driver. Ibo races on foot and skateboard into the hospital and birthing room where he recites the same monologue of love that Romeo spoke to Juliet under Juliet’s balcony. By entering Titzi’s realm of virtual reality and expertise, he demonstrates his appreciation and understanding of her messages and her perspectives on life. In the final Kung-Fu video story that seems, at first, to be an actual reality scene of the movie, Ibo and Titzi are married at the «King of Kebab» restaurant and overcome all obstacles and objections. In the plots of the Kung-Fu ads and in the scenes about acting, the immaturity and hastiness of both Ibo and Titzi are made clear - similar to Romeo’s and Juliet’s own immaturity and hastiness. Titzi and Ibo’s «real world» communications are often awkward, distrustful, and insufficient. These insufficiencies can lead to tragedies both interpersonally and culturally. Neither character - as with both Romeo and Juliet - has the maturity to risk rejection that comes with open and direct declaration of emotions; both characters use their virtual art forms to help them deliver their feelings to the other. As with cultural differences, the indirect and immature personal communication patterns create the need for messengers or interpreters and increase the possibility of tragic misunderstanding. Both narratives, Kebab Connection and Romeo and Juliet, use a messenger character to help the young lovers reach across an apparent unbridgeable gap. The messenger creates the miscommunication that leads to tragedy as well. In Shakespeare’s play, Juliet’s messenger first helps the two lovers unite by arranging the secret wedding (II,vi). Later, however, the messenger fails to de- 92 Reika Ebert and Ann Beck liver to Romeo a second message that exposes Juliet’s apparent death as a pretense. Ultimately, this undelivered message is the reason for the death of both lovers. In Kebab Connection, Ibo’s little sister has a similar role to play. After a period of angry separation between Titzi and Ibo, the messenger/ Ibo’s sister arrives at Titzi’s apartment in order to invite her to a big birthday celebration for Ibo’s uncle, the Kebab restaurant owner. The girl confides to Titzi that her brother, Ibo, has improved and that she has taught him how to cook. 7 The message gives a new opening for reunification of the couple. This message, even though well intended and successfully delivered, leads to the dramatic nadir of the film. Titzi attends the party at the family’s brightly lit restaurant and waits for Ibo. He, however, has fallen prey to a sexy, table dancing waitress/ temptress in the Greek restaurant across the street. The owner of this Greek restaurant is the arch competitor of Ibo’s uncle. Ibo, unsure of whether he can commit to Titzi, gets thoroughly drunk on Ouzo in the rival’s establishment and later crashes through the plate glass window. The noise of shattering glass across the street draws all of Ibo’s family members and Titzi into the street. Titzi sees the totally inebriated Ibo with the young Greek woman. Ibo shouts in his stupor «Ich bin Julius Cäsar,» 8 that is, I am a hero and cut out for more than being a father raising children. He then throws up and passes out in front of all his family and Titzi. One by one, each family member, including Titzi, turns away from him in disgust. So falls the hero as typical in the tragedy. This fall from grace is typical of the principles of classic Aristotelian tragedy where the plot must take place in the class of royalty or aristocracy in order to present the steepest fall of the hero from the heights in society to the greatest depth. Even though Ibo in Kebab Connection is merely the nephew of a man who owns a fast food Döner shop, his shout «Ich bin Julius Cäsar» as well as the name of his uncle’s Turkish restaurant, «King of Kebab,» represent remnants of this element of a classic tragedy and a further reference to Shakespeare’s plays. In the same vein, Titzi’s name - her mother calls her by her full name «Patrizia» 9 - also identifies her as aristocracy: she is a «patrician» - a person from a noble family in medieval and renaissance Italy. The film also evokes feelings of compassion and fear - two essential reactions to classic tragedies. We can feel compassion for Ibo’s desires to maintain his individual freedom and pursue a fulfilling career rather than become a «mundane» father. At the same moment, we also fear that by neglecting personal responsibilities for his own baby, he will lose the respect of family, society, and tradition. In tragic fashion, there is a moral to the story that is imprinted through fear. Ibo’s disregard of family matters and his repulsive behavior on the night of his uncle’s birthday party create the cathartic moment Kebab Connection 93 for the audience to cleanse itself of selfish desires and actions. We can reject our own selfish desires, and reform ourselves as «heroes» through our fear to act as Ibo does. We become morally «good» by rejecting the «bad» behavior that might be a part of ourselves. Although the allusions to tragedy and tragic elements are significant in this film, its essence is that of comedy. As in classical comedy, the cast roles are those of commoners (in spite of their patrician names). Titzi’s mother manages a warehouse, Ibo’s father is a taxi driver, and his uncle owns a small Turkish restaurant. The conflicts are family-centered rather than focused on government or a matter of state. All conflicts are dealt with in a lighthearted manner; and, by the end, there is the reunification of the clashing elements. We are shown that all conflict is not destined to end in tragedy and death. Optimism and humor overcome fatalism and tragic loss. Conflicts can be addressed, and warring factions can reconcile. Three major pathways to overcome or contain powerful cultural, interpersonal, and modernity conflicts are developed in the film. These arenas of reconciliation and reaffirmation include a) heterosexual coupling and procreation; b) family and patrilineal bonding; and c) friendship/ kinship rooted in commonly shared experiences, places, or tastes. The first reconciliation among persons of different personalities and cultural backgrounds is portrayed in the joyous wedding celebration for Titzi and Ibo. The other young, single persons in the film find partners as well: Titzi’s female roommate finds a partner; and in pleasing symmetry so does Ibo’s male German friend pair up with an Italian woman. The power of attraction and the fear of isolation are shown to be more powerful than our fear of the Other. In the second vein of conflicts involving fathers and sons, the reconciliation of modernity and tradition comes through the reaffirmation of intergenerational and male bonds. Both the Turkish and the Greek fathers react similarly to discord with their sons. Both sons challenge their fathers’ fundamental outlooks on life and traditions. Each father disowns his son and later walks unannounced into his son’s workplace to have a fierce argument with the son. Ibo is shunned for having a child with an infidel and then failing to live up to his responsibilities as a man and father. Despite the clear generational and modernity differences between the father (a traditional father and taxi driver) and son (a thoroughly modern, independent man and kung-fu filmmaker), Ibo and his father reunite and bond in front of the delivery room in the hospital while Titzi is giving birth. The two men smoke a cigarette together, discuss being a good father, and give each other an emotional hug at the birth of the new baby girl. Male virility has been reaffirmed in their intimacy as men with offspring. The powerful struggle between the creation and the creator is con- 94 Reika Ebert and Ann Beck tained through repeating the pattern of creation in the children of the creator. It is procreation that allows old wounds to be healed and previous divisions to be reunited in a new, integrated flesh. Similarly, Ibo’s Greek friend, the son of the restaurant owner across the street from the «King of Kebab,» is disowned for having become a political vegetarian. The son has opened his own meatless falafel restaurant instead of working in his father’s traditional Greek restaurant. Yet, the Greek father and son reunite at the wedding where we view the Greek father gazing at his son with fatherly pride. Again, as with all comedies, intergenerational differences are overcome by genetic and fatherly love. The third important reconciliation is between bitter historical rivals - the Greeks and Turks. Throughout the film the two restaurant owners, Greek and Turk, sling ethnic barbs and insults at each other in a slapstick style. They compete for Ibo’s attention to their marketing needs in the highly competitive restaurant industry. At the wedding feast, though, the Turkish and Greek owner make up in a symbolic duel with food as the weapon of choice. They compete on the quality of taste with the opponent being the judge. Both men face each other in a stand-off while each presents a tray of beautifully arranged stuffed grape leaves to the other. Ceremoniously and simultaneously each offers his opponent a taste. Each tentatively reaches across and takes a bite. Both comment with respectful recognition: «gar nicht schlecht» and «kann man essen.» 10 At this moment each recognizes their compatible values and the feud dissolves into congeniality. Apparently, the differences between these two competing cultures are surface phenomena only as each is simply a variation of the «same dish,» both based on grape leaves. Just as the film Kebab Connection pays homage to a Shakespearean tragedy, the film also pays tribute to a Shakespearean comedy - Midsummer Night’s Dream - as some of the structural elements in that comedy are seen in this film. Both the play and the film end with a marriage banquet and three new couples. Both productions incorporate a play within a play. In Midsummer Night’s Dream it is Peter Quince and his friends who rehearse their play «Pyramus and Thisbe» for their performance at the royal wedding just as Titzi and her roommate prepare for their roles as Juliet for their on-stage audition. Interestingly, Ovid’s «Pyramus and Thisbe» is an older version of the Romeo and Juliet material. It tells the story about two young lovers who overcome their family’s feud but as a result of a misunderstanding of their beloveds’ deaths each of them kills himself or herself. Shakespeare, in Midsummer Night’s Dream, refers to Ovid, a Roman poet, whose tale of «Pyramus and Thisbe» is set in old Babylon (now in modern Iraq). Fatih Akin and Kebab Connection 95 Anno Saul in turn borrow from Shakespeare’s play. The filmmaker’s intertextual citations thus reach back to antiquity. This places the film within a literary tradition based on inspiration from stories of Middle Eastern, Greek, and Roman cultures whose modern day people now also populate Germany and who are the simultaneously different and same subjects in this film. The various narratives within narratives and films within films ponder the healing of feuds. Like Midsummer Night’s Dream, the filmmaker uses the characters and contexts to point to the mechanisms that might be used to overcome the tragic elements of absurdly making the «other» into the enemy. At the same time the film points to the most important source of possible tragedy - a lack of real or virtual communication. In Midsummer Night’s Dream Shakespeare sets up a magical world into which the quarreling people enter. He uses this device to circumnavigate or avoid the destruction of relationships. In the different dimension created, the characters can experience their personal desires under different perspectives. Oberon, king of the fairies, has a love potion administered to aid people in finding their deeply felt love for the person destined to be their match. The realm of the fairies is an altered state in which the individuals are free of their habitual restraints and can, therefore, find the truth within themselves. Similarly, in Kebab Connection Titzi and Ibo are shown as having much difficulty in communicating satisfactorily in the «real» world. For example, when Titzi becomes unexpectedly pregnant, both partners fight over the decision to keep «it» or not. 11 They are young and each is planning her or his career; yet, the thought of having a baby is also exciting. Titzi wants the child, but as Ibo communicates his hesitancy, Titzi rebuffs him and the two lovers separate. Later, they make a date to meet at a restaurant after Ibo calls her. On his way to meet Titzi, Ibo is delayed through a chain of unforeseen events (or unimportant stops depending on the two separate versions of events shown in flashbacks) and arrives at the restaurant more than one hour late. Ibo explains that he tried his utmost to meet her - and her expectations - but Titzi (ever the German) thinks that the lateness is a sign of his pattern of careless neglect of his responsibilities and she dismisses him again. 12 Ibo may have been really trying to be on time or he may have been falsely representing what actually did happen in order to avoid Titzi’s ire. The audience is left to decide whose side of the argument is most supported depending on which version of the two flashbacks about the reasons for the delay is believed. In this case, the truth is presented as difficult to come by for either or both of the parties to the communication. It is the lack of trust, as much as the content of the message, as to why Ibo is late, that continues the estrangement. 96 Reika Ebert and Ann Beck Other comic elements that place the filmmakers alongside some of the great names in film direction also add to the film’s enjoyment. The title of the film itself is a play on the title of an earlier film by Kung-Fu artist Bruce Lee, called Chinese Connection or Fist of Fury (1972). Bruce Lee even makes a virtual cameo appearance in the film. After having smoked a water pipe with hashish or marijuana, Ibo becomes enlightened upon looking into the refrigerator where Bruce Lee jumps out of a fire spout in a parking garage that looks like an arena and tells Ibo to get into a breathing course. Du brauchst eine Erleuchtung. Oder warum bist du nicht bei deiner Freundin? - Ich weiß nicht, ob ich ein guter Vater sein kann. Was soll ich tun, Meister? - Jeder Schritt auf steilem Pfad verkleinert den Berg. Jeder Schritt auf den Gipfel bringt den Berg zum Verschwinden. Geh in einen Hechelkurs. 13 As with Midsummer Night’s Dream, Ibo enters a dream state and there finds truth from his imaginary hero, Bruce Lee, that allows him to do what he subconsciously wishes to do - support Titzi in giving birth. Another reference to classic movies was also noted by early reviewers such as Weissberg and Rebhandl. The scene about the out-of-control baby carriage bumping down a long flight of outdoor stairs 14 is a comic jab at a classic scene with the Tsar’s soldiers coming down the stairs to massacre the Odessans from Eisenstein’s Battleship Potemkin (1925) and is amazingly similar to a scene in de Palma’s Untouchables (1987). In both the Potemkin and Untouchables films, the scenes are meant to demonstrate the tragedy of class conflicts and gang violence. In Kebab Connection, however, the baby ride is a fun flight of fancy that foretells the potential for happy, heterosexual families. In this scene, Ibo, after taking a big fall on the stairs, gets hit and kicked not by the Tsar’s militia but rather by the furious Italian mother of the baby for inadvertently stealing her child. In comic fashion, Ibo’s German friend becomes the baby-saving hero who is adored by the single Italian mother and will later start another intercultural nuclear family. Through the virtual world of literature and fiction the two main characters connect on an intimate level. In the final scene of the movie, we see the wedding of the two protagonists, or so we think. What we also see is the shooting of the final scene from the newest video ad where the two are united in air, through unseen wires, in their wedding attire. We, the audience, are left unsure whether the two are at their actual wedding or whether they are only virtually being wedded. The film ends in the same «fairy space» that Midsummer Night’s Dream had created to resolve conflicts among humans. In this «fairy space» of «virtual reality» the film creates a new way of looking at all relationships within the film. Just as the Turkish and Greek grape leaves are Kebab Connection 97 essentially the same dish, so, too, does the «virtual reality» help us see that persons from different ethnic backgrounds hold similar dreams and desires. Finally, the filmmakers of Kebab Connection use slapstick as the mechanism to turn the violence of tragedy into a source of laughter and comedy. Despite its predictability, slapstick helps the viewer laugh at difficulties that could otherwise have tragic consequences. This way, potential tragic events are rendered bearable, not catastrophic or deadly. Most of the slapstick scenes in the movie take place in three arenas of urban living and modern life - transportation, childcare, and gang violence. For instance, Ibo’s father and Ibo both have comedic traffic accidents that are the result of their separate preoccupations. Neither Ibo nor his father is hurt although both characters’ vehicles become temporarily unusable. Ibo’s slapstick baby diaper changes, Lamaze breathing lessons, and the saving of the bumping baby carriage all make the hazards of child-rearing in urban life seem less frightening. The gang members and their violence are reminiscent of the Three Stooges. Their bad behavior, conveyed through slapstick, often makes us laugh because they fulfill our own violent fantasies. For instance, they slam a car door on someone’s hand and then calmly pick up the marijuana joint from the crushed hand. 15 In another instance, they wreak property havoc at the «King of Kebab» restaurant and slowly saunter out of the place. 16 These scenes, albeit presented in standard slapstick techniques, allow for comic relief as viewers will recognize these common opportunities for urban violence. The happy ending in the virtual reality of Kebab Connection solves the problem of violence that fuels the chain of deadly events in Romeo and Juliet. The protagonists use their dreams and creative activities to counsel themselves and allow themselves to do what is necessary; they create new ways to communicate with each other when all seems hopeless; and they discover signs that help them reaffirm common values. Throughout the journey, humor plays a critical role in reducing the level of difficulty and tension. By the end of the film’s journey, they have found the methods to turn potential tragedy into the beginning of a shared life with their creation. This film deeply roots itself in the history and traditions of classic literature, yet it uses the virtual reality of film to suggest a new order of intercultural connection. It is the shared, common pop culture that tends to unite all of the younger characters, regardless of familial or cultural/ ethnic background. Their ability to use the new and old media to communicate positive feelings for each other and as a motivation to «act» positively toward each other in the real world creates new arenas for reconciliation and reaffirmation. It is the common aspirations of Titzi and Ibo that make them able to recognize and act on their shared fate in this modern world that has created them and that they 98 Reika Ebert and Ann Beck in turn create. In the end, the filmmakers believe that it is this act of multicultural creation and procreation that allows our collective, potential tragedy to be turned on its head and made into comedy. Notes 1 Kebab Connection (2005). Director: Anno Saul; Script: Anno Saul, Fatih Akin, Ruth Toma, Jan Berger; protagonists: Nora Tschirner and Denis Moschitto. 2 See Atanasov, Mazassek, and Rebhandl. 3 See Huston, van Hoeij, and Bax. 4 DVD section 4. Entscheidungen. 5 DVD section 7. Liebeskummer. 6 ibid. 7 DVD section 10. Einladung. 8 ibid. 9 DVD section 4. Entscheidungen. 10 DVD section 12. Feierlichkeiten. 11 DVD section 3. Neuigkeiten. 12 DVD section 8. Titzi wartet. 13 DVD section 9. Die Erleuchtung. 14 DVD section 5. Kinderwagen. 15 DVD section 2. Erste Erfolge. 16 DVD section 10. Die Einladung. Works Cited Atanasov, Svet. Web-based review of Kebab Connection, dir. Sinnan Akus and Anno Saul. Posted December 7, 2006 at website «DVD Talk.» http: / / www.dvdtalk.com/ reviews/ read.php? id=25497 Bax, Daniel. «Quatsch mit Sosse; So viel Witz steckt im multikulturellen Alltag: Anno Sauls Komödie ‹Kebab Connection› erzählt von einem Hamburger Nachwuchsregisseur türkischer Herkunft, der von der großen Karriere träumt.» Review of Kebab Connection, dir. Sinnan Akus and Anno Saul. die tageszeitung 21 April 2005: 16. Houston, Shaun. Web-based Review of Kebab Connection, dir. Anno Saul. Posted January 27, 2006 at website «PopMatters.» http: / / www.popmatters.com/ pm/ film/ reviews/ 10044/ kebab-connection-2005/ Mazassek, M. «‹Kebab Connection›; Zwischen Kung-Fu und Kinderwagen.» Review of Kebab Connection, dir. Sinnan Akus and Anno Saul. Frankfurter Rundschau 21 April 2005: 8. Rebhandl, Bert. «‹Kebab Connection›, eine idyllische Filmkomödie.» Review of Kebab Connection, dir. Sinnan Akus and Anno Saul. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung 23 April 2005: 22. van Hoeij, Boyd. Web-based Review of Kebab Connection, dir. Sinnan Akus and Anno Saul. Posted at website «EuropeanFilms.» http: / / europeanfilms.net/ content/ view/ 190/ 5/ Weissberg, Jay. Review of Kebab Connection, dir. Sinnan Akus and Anno Saul. Variety 7 March 2005: 40-41.