Customer Reviews

Im Juli. [VHS]

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The aspiring teacher Daniel Bannier (Moritz Bleibtreu) has just finished his last day before summer break as a substitute teacher. Daniel has planned to stay in Hamburg over the summer sitting in solitude on his balcony reading books about physics and listening to jazz while everyone else is leaving for an exotic vacation. A boring stiff could sum up Daniel's persona before he met the street vendor Juli (Christiane Paul) who has fallen in love with Daniel. Juli urges Daniel to buy a Mayan ring with the mark of a sun from her as she reveals for him that the love of his life will be wearing a sun. Juli is scheming a love trap for Daniel as she invites him to a street party, however, Daniel is unaware Juli's affections for him and instead meets meets Melek (Idil Üner), a beautiful Turkish girl, as Juli is late to the party.

Melek needs to find a place for the night and she is flying to Turkey the next morning. However, she unveils that she is to meet her beloved under the bridge at Bosphorus strait that divides two continents. After Daniel has dropped off Melek at the airport he realizes that he must go to Istanbul in order to meet her under the bridge. When Daniel begins his journey he sees a hitchhiker whom he picks up, and it is no other than Juli who has decided to escape her sad loss of Daniel by travel. This is the beginning of a long journey for Daniel as he is forced to leave his secure little world and do a lot of things that he would never otherwise have done.

In July is a wonderful love story that offers much laughter and entertainment as the audience probably can relate to the feelings of both Daniel and Juli. Most of the story is told in a flashback as Daniel tells his tale for a mysterious man with a corpse in the trunk, which adds a level of suspense to the film. In the end, Faith Akin has directed a terrific cinematic experience that can lighten the heaviest of hearts and share some hope for those in need of a cheering up.

Note: German with English subtitles.

Daniel (Moritz Bleibtreu), a naive student teacher from Hamburg is pursuaded to buy an antique ring adorned with the image of the sun by a street vendor. July (Christiane Paul) the pretty girl selling the item tells him he will soon meet a woman wearing the same symbol. She will be his one true love.

July plans to be that true love, but Daniel bumps into someone else first wearing the sunburst symbol on her tanktop. She spends one night with him before leaving for Istanbul. He decides to pursue her and as fate would have it, July inadvertantly joins in the journey. And so the romantic adventure begins.

This is an absolutely fantastic film. Beautiful cinematography, wonderfully infectious music, great storyline and three beautiful girls. Besides the two actors already mentioned I want to also credit Mehmet Kurtulus and Idil Uner for their first rate supporting roles.

I could watch this film over and over again. My favorite German language movie by far!

I'm writing this review because I would like "In Juli" to get the attention it deserves. I saw it in New York about 2 years ago. It literally was shown for 3 days and then completely disappeared. I know no one who saw it, or even heard of it,and that is a shame.
"In Juli" is a comedy, a mystery, a road story and it has fabulous scenery of eastern and southern Europe. But, best of all, it has the most romantic line, I've ever heard in a movie - we'll it's at the top of the list, along with all the best ones you've heard. I won't say what it is, you'll just have to buy the video.
The acting is splendid, my favorite one being Christianne Paul playing Juli, the lead female character. She is beautiful, smart and knowing and has a terrific smile. Moritz Bleibtreu plays Daniel, the male lead and it is wonderful watching him transform to someone who is basically not present in his life, to someone who can have adventures, fall down, get up and fall in love. The acting, overall, is excellent and as the story builds, you end of liking and routing for all the characters.
One of the many levels the movie is about is having to travel and have experiences that ultimately help you grow and change, and finally be able to see that the real love that you are looking for is right in front of you - you just need to be open to see it.

In July is one of the movies that I can watch over and over. I will not cover the plot, since reviewers before me did a good job at it.

I would not consider this film a sappy melodrama, and I did not find it annoying like some love movies are. It is very lighthearted and kind. It tells a story of following your fate, finding your love, and of traveling across Europe without a penny in the pocket. In fact, it does not concentrate on love, although it is the premise of the film. You can just watch it as an adventure movie with many funny stories and situations. The actors do a good job playing their parts, scenery is cool, there are a few fancy and scenes with a trendy camera work, and the soundtrack is wonderful.

It is a typical quality European film. I hope you enjoy watching it.

I first saw Im Juli (In July) my first month living in Germany, and it has been one of my favorites ever since. It is a light-hearted lark of a film, meant to replicate and expand on the contrivances of the Hollywood romantic road film. And director Faith Akin brings to the genre his own (distinctly European) sense of humor and whimsy.

Moritiz Bleibtreu and Christiane Paul as the film's leads are delightful - they play off each other with an easy chemistry and create winning characters for whom you cheer. The supporting characters are equally as likeable and altogether unusual for a romantic comedy, the difference that sets Im Juli (In July) apart from it's Hollywood counterparts.

If you're looking for a fun film and don't expect cinematic genious, Im Juli (In July) will satisfy your inner ham quite nicely. Considering the decidedly heavier offerings from Germany (Europe Europe, Wings of Desire, Big Girls Don't Cry, anything by Fassbinder), Im Juli (In July) is a treat. Along with Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run, The Princess and the Warrior), Faith Akin is one of Germany's most delightful and innovative directors.

Of the "road trip" style of movies this is probably the best I've seen. It is the story of a hapless science professor, Daniel (Moritz Bleibtreu), receives mystical advice from a street vendor that he will find his true love wearing a star. In a mix-up he has a fantastic one night stand with someone wearing a star, and decides to find her in Turkey.

Thus begin his travels and the discovery of his true love (his travel companion for a while). While the outcome for Daniel is know from the beginning of the film, the fun is in the journey.

Here the movie really shines. It never takes itself seriously, nor does it become a a movie of "one liners".

For me, the movie works on multiple levels. One can enjoy the (mis)adventures of Daniel's journey to Turkey, or follow the coutry side, or follow the director's images capturing Daniel's experiences, or follow the "Road less traveled" hiding beneath the surface, or enjoy the amazing acting of Bleitreu, Christiane Paul and especially Mehment Kurtulus.

I can watch this movie over and over and never tire of it.

Endearing German comedy `In July' follows the fate of one bespectacled timid math teacher Daniel (Moritz Bleibtreu), who finds a true love on the road to Turkey. Actually, he has already found it in Hamburg where he lives and teaches - her name is Juli with whom he travels (played by charming Christiane Paul) -- but too innocent Daniel just cannot realize that.

Part road movie, part romantic comedy, part slapstick action, `In July' is free from formulaic structures of Hollywood-made romantic comedies. Like `another European comedy `Black Cat, White Cat' the film is about the unstoppable energy of Daniel and Juli and those whom they encounter while traveling in Eastern Europe. The film may look inconsequential to some, and perhaps it is so, but `In July' is still a feel-good comedy with a healthy doze of romance against the background of cross-cultural experiences.

Moritz Bleibtreu is very good (as always) at playing a character who finds himself in the wrong place as in `Run Lola Run', but the true star of the film is Christiane Paul as free-spirited and independent Juli who leads the shy Daniel into the place where he as ordinary teacher would never dreamed of entering. Equally impressive is the `crazy' girl Luna played by beautiful and sexy Branka Katic, a van driver who guides Daniel into a seedy café in Budapest.

Not everything succeeds, it is true, and Daniel's innocence often looks too implausible, but `In July' is more charming than irritating. Director Fatih Akin's story is patchy and sometimes impossible, but the film is refreshing and appealing nonetheless.

I'm giving this movie 4 stars for two basic reasons. First, the adventures of the characters trying to get to Turkey seem a little too drastic. It's hard to imagine someone being robbed of everything and still being able to complete the journey. Second, some of the plot points seem a bit abrupt, especially the resolution of all the storylines at the end. It has a happy ending, but it seems like it all falls in place within 2 minutes. Those two things being said, I did like the movie. There is a little rough language and a few light drug scenes, but nothing raunchy. The storyline is interesting, has a somewhat surprise ending, and is somewhat edgy. While I wouldn't say it's the best movie I've ever seen, it did leave me with a good feeling all in all.

Fatih Akin is one of the best and brightest directorial voices working in Europe today, and while this early film isn't quite as strong as his more recent masterpieces, it's still a sweet, funny and worthwhile love story. On the surface it's a very familiar romantic comedy plot - the misadventures of guy searching for girl he thinks he loves, while missing the fact that the perfect girl is right beside him. But it's so charming, with a fun, playful, inventive cinematic style, a great soundtrack, and terrific supporting characters that it's easy to forgive any clichés and a few moments of overacting. A film that will make you smile.

Turkish-German director Fatih Akin says he was inspired by Shakespeare's "Midsummer Night's Dream" when he made this film, which is fair enough, but Hollywood road movies like "It Happened One Night" more easily come to mind as you watch this unlikely story of quarreling travel companions destined to fall in love. And this is the flip side of two pretty heavy coins - Akin, who is better known for his "Head-On" about the desperate lives of Turks in Germany, and German cinema itself, not often known for light-hearted romantic comedy. Yet, most of the time it works. It's sexy, funny, and fairly full of surprises, as our callow young hero, who after a one-night unconsummated tryst with a stranger, follows her from Hamburg to Istanbul. And tagging along is the more adventurous girl truly smitten with him (opposites in this case attracting true to formula).

Suspension of disbelief is in order from beginning to end, but most of the time you say "what the heck" and go along with it. It's classic, as Akin says in an interview. The hero must go on a quest to kill a monster, which in this case is within himself - his own timidity and suppressed emotions. A movie that's really more for the young at heart, it's probably a little too tame for real 20-somethings.