“Ghost Song proves that Akın grew up and became a master of his craft while preserving his core strength: authentic emotion and passion.”

It’s been 22 years since Fatih Akın gave us an outright love story in feature form. His Golden Bear winner Head-On (Gegen die Wand) not only remains as his masterpiece, but also as one of the best films on toxic love. Unlike the rawness and sheer cinematic appetite we all got taken by there, in his new film Ghost Song, Akın (now a much more experienced and mature filmmaker) returns to the subject of love with younger characters in a story of two teenagers. His approach to their relationship is unexpectedly restrained and precise. It’s impossible not to compare Ghost Song with Head-On, with all the One Thousand and One Nights-inspired miniature paintings used as chapter brackets, and the film taking place in the historical Istanbul peninsula. But before the story takes us into the realm of Islamic fairy tales, it starts off from a simple and contemporary setup.

Ghost Song (its German title Geister simply meaning ‘ghosts’) starts at a graduation party where 17-year-old Faris (Eren M. Güvercin) and Farasha (Mariam Dawoud) have a brief encounter. They are two bright, promising young people from immigrant backgrounds. Farasha is a Syrian refugee who spent some time in Turkey before settling in Germany. Faris is possibly a second-generation immigrant, with a history of one-way migration by his late Turkish father. They meet at the party and have a casual chat, both visibly struck by each other. Although their meeting is quite lowkey and casual, we quickly realize that we’re already invested in their connection. Something that is not easy to achieve, but Akın makes it work in a seemingly effortless way. At the end of the night Faris offers to give Farasha and her best friend a ride home. A doomed ride, because they end up in a traffic accident. Faris wakes up in a hospital, and while his mother tries to keep the news from him as long as possible, he will soon learn that Farasha didn’t make it.

Just when you think you have found the one, the love of your life, you end up losing her. And it may be your own fault. It is like a curse you have to live with your whole life, and it’s a burden Faris finds impossible to carry. He simply cannot go on. But if this whole story could’ve been written by Scheherazade, as their roots are close, the dead could contact their beloved for the first 40 days after their death, and walk the earth until they’re forgotten.

In Islamic belief, 40 days is the mourning period after such a loss. It is probably best to see it as the period the person that stays behind needs to get over their initial pain. And in Ghost Song, Farasha can meet Faris in his dreams during these 40 days. They get to know each other much better in dreams, and begin planning a future in the afterlife, which would mean Faris would have to take his own life. But the world doesn’t consist of just these two. They have families, friends, sisters. Two incredibly effective mother figures too, subtly and wonderfully portrayed by Anna Bederke and Lama Alhalabi.

The duality in Western and Eastern cultures plays a crucial role here, as seen in Faris’ mother or the rational mind of the doctor Faris meets after a suicide attempt (an incredibly powerful scene in its own right) versus the emotional and spiritual process Farasha’s family goes through. Or the Western score of the film versus the Middle Eastern song repeating throughout. Equally impressive is the freeing journey of Farasha after her death. It is quite a bold and progressive touch by Akın to have a girl who covered her hair on her own account in life, now experience a religious/spiritual journey in death, becoming much more liberated with each step.

The final section of the film, when it starts to focus on letting go, is less intricate, and love takes a step back. But the fairy tale aspect is still there, as these stories usually end in high epic towers. Akın’s modern take on One Thousand and One Nights leaves its beautiful black-and-white photography for color, and while Head-On still remains as his best work, Ghost Song proves that Akın grew up and became a master of his craft while preserving his core strength: authentic emotion and passion.