I love this movie so much

Overrated

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Did you people see the same film I saw?

"Im Juli." (don't forget the full stop) is an early Faith Akin film starring two young German actors Moritz Bleibtreu and Christiane Paul, both still under 30 years old. Bleibtreu won the German Film Award for his work here and in "Das Experiment". Not too big on Paul usually, but I thought she gave a decent performance here, even if I found Idil Üner 10 times as attractive as her. And Mehmert Kurtulus plays a character whose story I found almost more interesting than the one from Bleibtreu's character. Sadly, we only find out the very basics about him. Initially, he seems like a contract killer with a corpse in the trunk of his car, but things are not always what they seem. For Akin, it was sort of an early breakthrough film, not as big as "Gegen die Wand, but still pretty successful.The film's big strength is the writing. Akin did a fine job here. There are only very few scenes when it is off the mark, for example the border scene that features Akin himself in a cameo as a border official. The whole marriage reference is slightly cheesy as are the words that Bleibtreu's character says to Juli at the end. On a side-note, somehow I always felt that Juli would not be attracted to a nice looking guy like Bleibtreu's character. Anyway, back to the writing. The whole bridge part was pretty genius. That he intended to go there to meet the one girl first, but finally the other girl. I also liked that when he sees Juli from behind it was the typical scene that it could turn out to be somebody else in a comedic fashion, but here it was actually her. We see the transformation in Bleibtreu's mind who's the right one for him when the Turkish girl sees him, holds his eyes and he asks if it is Juli, because by that point Juli is already the one he wants. The sun reference early on was nicely done as well. But it won't work with him if she tries to force it as he sees another girl with a sun first. They need to get to know each other first on their journey.The supporting cast is decent too. I won't list the names, you can check the cast list for that, but a few of them have worked with Akin before or afterward (especially Bleibtreu several times) and most of them are at least familiar faces to those with an interest in German cinema. The pub brawl scene with Jochen Nickel (okay, now I named one) was one of my favorite scenes. The Russian criminal girl scenes, however, I did not like as much. All in all, I recommend this movie, even if its ending was as cheesy as expected. If you like it, take a look at "The Sure Thing" starring John Cusack. There's quite a few parallels.

I advice to everybody ... please watch this very funny and romantic German-Turkish road movie. It will be good after watch unnatural Hollywood movies with similar scripts .Moritz Bleibtreu ... Daniel Bannier ( Just great actor. You must see him in Run Lola Run, too ) Christiane Paul ... Juli ( I loved her after I watched movie. Very natural and beautiful actress ) Faith Akýn ... ( Great director from Germany. Also he is a Turk. But he still living and working in Germany. I advice to see other great movies. Head-on, Auf der anderen Seite etc. )Trust me, you will never regret to watch this movie !!!

It is very nice to see how a director from a country besides the U.S. creates a romantic comedy. This type of film isn't what one would expect from Germany, and perhaps that contributes to its charm. Certainly Christiane Paul who portrays the title's namesake is luminous. Every frame she is in, she lights up the screen. It has been said that they success of a romantic comedy depends on the audience falling in love with the main characters as they are falling in love on screen. If this is true, then both Christiane and Moritz Bleibtreu (who plays Daniel Bannier) do a marvelous job of seducing the audience, both are very likable and by the second reel you are cheering for them to be together.The plot has the basic framework of a road movie/romantic comedy. Daniel is closed off and stuffy, and Juli is the free spirit who is his guide to individual freedom and expression. Daniel meets her at a street fair, and she immediately recognizes him as "the one" who is his destiny. She sells him a ring with the symbol of the sun that is supposed to unite him with his one true love who will also be wearing a solar symbol. Daniel doesn't know it at the time, but Juli has a tattoo of the sun on the small of her back. That night he meets a pretty young woman named Melek who is carrying a backpack bearing a picture of the sun. He takes this as a sign and pursues her. At drinks together she informs him that she is meeting someone under a well-known bridge in Istanbul. He is disappointed that she is meeting someone who she might be in love with, but after they part ways he decides to go to Istanbul and meet her under the bridge on the night of her meeting with this other man.Meanwhile Juli, having seen Daniel and Melek together becomes depressed and decides to leave the city. As she stands at the crossroads of the highway, she says her goodbyes to her friend and states that she will go wherever the next ride takes her, no matter where they are going. Sure enough, Daniel stops for her and they begin their journey together. Along the way, Juli falls even further in love with Daniel even though he is on a quest to meet another woman. As they make their way, the usual kinds of twists and turns that one expects in a comedic road movie crop up: the car breaks down, they lose all their money and are forced to depend on the kindness of a quirky bunch of characters to complete their journey. All the while Daniel is learning to let go of the very tight grip he has on his life. As he loosens his hold his heart also opens to Juli, and when she leaves him to complete his odyssey alone (an act of unselfish love, and an indicator that Juli is learning lessons herself), he finally realizes that the girl he truly wanted was with him all the while.Near the end of his trek he runs into the very girl he is going to Istanbul to meet and finds her very happy to see him. Here he must make a choice to stay with Melek, who obviously wants him to stay, or complete his adventure to the bridge where Juli may or may not be waiting for him. I'll leave you to find out the rest, but rest assured there will be no unhappy ending here.As Hollywood tries to come up with increasingly improbable scenarios to breathe new life into the romantic comedy, German director Faith Akin follows a familiar path and allows the heart of these characters to draw us into the story. The exotic places they travel through becomes a separate character as well, and Akin allows the beauty and mystery of these locals to seduce as much as the main characters do.The charm of this movie is in the reminder that humans the world over feel the same excitement and happiness when falling in love. Akin wisely relies on the desire each of us has to feel that love, and the delight of seeing others experience that joy as well. It will never grow boring watching two likable characters fall in love, especially when they are willing to fight, trek thousands of miles, and endure any hardship to be with the one they love. With In July, Akin spins a wonderful tale of love, growth and discovery. You won't go wrong spending a couple of hours with this film falling in love yourself.

I came across Faith Akin's movie "Im Juli" /("In July") by pure chance and the fact that it had Moritz Bleibtreu (from "Run Lola Run" fame) in it made it appeal to me since I liked Moritz in previous other movies.The movie tells the story of a young teacher (Moritz) who thinks he had met the love of his life in a Turkish girl and follows her to Istanbul/Turkey. At the same time his real true love, Juli (Christiane Paul) travels with him, saves him and silently tries to win his heart over.In the end everything finds it's solution and climax beneath the Posporus bridge in Istanbul - the meeting point.The movie is well paced, doesn't have big special effects, but tells a wonderful story. Faith Akin's latest movie "Gegen die Wand" /("Head on") made him internationally aware to critics and a bigger audience.Unfortunately unlike with "Gegen die Wand", there is no international release for "Im Juli" - so the movie only has German language and subtitles...