Elbow, showcased at Berlinale 2024 in the “Generation 14plus” strand, navigates the complexities of immigrant identity and the struggle for freedom through the eyes of Hazal, a young woman on the brink of adulthood.
It’s no mean feat to become an adult, especially when you’re the child of immigrants, says German director Aslı Özarslan in her film Elbow (Ellbogen in German), premiered at this year’s Berlinale in the “Generation 14plus” section.
Look at me, look at me. You bastard. Not in the way your colonial, racist imagination would normally lead you to do. No, look at me as a young woman, soon to come of age, lost, of course, but quivering with a terrible desire for freedom. This is what Hazal, the main character – driven by the actress’s naturalistic performance – is symbolically shouting to us, the viewers, in this film by young German director Aslı Özarslan.
Hazal is you, it’s me, it’s us as we enter adulthood. With our parents constantly laying down rules, telling us that we’ve never done enough in our studies, that we don’t deserve them after all. But above all, Hazal is the story of the children of immigrants – in this case, a German girl born of Turkish parents, living in Berlin – who would like to just enjoy life like their contemporaries, but are constantly reminded that they are not like the others.
There’s drama, too, in Elbow (Ellbogen in German). Without spoilers, it’s a big deal what happens to Hazal. But the director has the subtlety not to make it the film’s sole driving force, even if it is a cliffhanger in the most common cinematic sense. Nonetheless, the film could do with being tightened up: at times, you can sense a lack of narrative. It won’t be the first or the last feature film, however, which would have been better suited to the short film format.
