"Geboren in Absurdistan" is an Austrian German-language film (with some Turkish in it too) from 1999, so two more years and this one will have its 20th anniversary. This one should not be mistaken for the Russian/German film "Absurdistan" from 2008. The director and writer here is Houchang Allahyari and he collaborated in both areas with his son Tom-Dariusch, so even if they do not originate from Turkey the family aspect from the story too is kinda given and it is a multicultural film too. The movie is relatively long at 110 minutes, but for that it has surprisingly few moments where it drags. It's a solid outcome for the most part. Early on, it is interesting from the perspective of Turkish people having to deal with life in a complicated way in Austria and when the Austrian family goes on a journey to Turkey it's all upside down and other conflicts arise. And all this only because a nurse mixed up their two newborns. Or did she really? You will have to wait until the end to find out. I think the script is pretty fine and the subject makes this also a relevant film today almost 20 years later because of the refugee issue everywhere in Europe. The weakest moments were maybe at the end as the talk show situation did not really convince me with the minister suddenly calling in there, it was a bit too showy for my taste and lacked realism. And also when they decide at the very end to not go for the paternity test, something that they planned for almost the entire film, it was also a bit absurd. So maybe this film should have ended 15-20 minutes earlier to really let me appreciate it more than I did. But in the first 90 minutes, there were still enough interesting sequences and scenarios in here for me to give this one a thumbs-up. It's like a lighter version of an Ulrich Seidl movie as Austrian film buffs obviously know he loves mixing up generic Austrians with foreign cultures. Final thumbs-up for Markovics who was (despite Kommissar Rex) probably not as known back then as he is today and this has to do with the success of "Die Fälscher" of course. But I talked about that one on another occasion. So this one here is also worth checking out for people who really love this actor, maybe not so much for fans of Josef Hader, who only has a role with very little screen time. But you really cannot go wrong with seeing "Born in Absurdistan".
4 Reviews
Personal take on culture clash that works well for the most part
Horst_In_Translation24 April 2017
Warning: Spoilers
A one-sided, unfair movie which lacks objectivity
GalantVR63 October 2002
Warning: Spoilers
Contains Spoilers Greetings!
I would like to share and bring some points to your attention with regards to the film from Austria titled 'Absurdistan' being shown at CINE 5 Europe Film Festival in Manila, Philippines.
I understand that 10 movies shown during the festival are from member countries of the European Union and it aims to foster cultural relations between Europe and Asia while promoting member countries' film industry abroad.
When I saw the pamphlet that provided a glimpse at the movies, I got more curious in 'Absurdistan' because it involved a Turkish couple. Thinking the film would provide a clue as to the portrayal of the Turkish population in Europe, I grabbed the opportunity and watched it with my colleague who is also a foreign journalist.
The story revolved around the two couples whose babies got switched at an hospital in Austria. Some time later the Austrian couple is informed that the baby they are holding is actually not theirs and was switched. The couple then takes an adventurous journey to Turkey by road to meet and exchange babies with the Turkish couple who was indeed 'deported' from Austria because of missing an immigration deadline for a few days.
Here, I would like to enumerate some disturbing points in 'Absurdistan':
1. The movie is from Austria and I would expect an artistic film directed by an Austrian director so that as viewers and members of media, we could have clues as to the present situation of Austrian film industry and latest developments in Austria. However, 'Absurdistan' was directed by Psychiatrist and filmmaker Houchang Allahyari who was born in Tehran in 1941 and has been a resident in Vienna for more than two decades.
2. What does 'Absurdistan' mean or imply? To whom does it refer? Since this word ends with (istan), it must refer to a place or location. Do they mean Austria? Or Turkey? Do they want to tell the viewers that Turkey is a place full of absurdity or the land of the absurds? And what is the relation of this title with the movie? Isn't it an insult to a whole nation?
3. If we are to take the stand of a movie critic, there were many inconsistencies which would be easily noticed by plain viewers. To wit: When the Austrian couple is already in Turkey and in the city where the Turkish couple's village was located, their Mercedes Benz car is hit from behind by another van. As the camera showed it from a high point, the van hit the MB at rear LEFT and the rear left side of the MB must have been damaged. However, when the couple later on takes a break and pulls over, we see that the damage is on the rear RIGHT of the car and the RIGHT taillight is broken!
4. Another inconsistency is when the couple arrives in the village, their Mercedes overheats and water steam comes out of the hood. The wife with the baby and the husband get off the car and the wife who has been at the wheel locks the car with the remote control. We see the signal lights blink as it is the case with most remote locks. However, moments later, 'Mustafa' who was named to be the mayor of the town gets in and steers it to his workshop while the kids push the car from behind. Once the car is fixed, Mustafa is shown driving around in the MB and even bringing it to the tea house. How could he get the keys immediately after the car got overheated without even meeting the couple? Or maybe he did have spare keys?
5. Towards the end of the movie, there was a big editing no-no. When the two couples were invited to a TV talk show, parts of the conversation was repeated twice at three points.
6. As the director is of Iran descent, the background music of the movie was Persian as indicated at the end of the film. If I am not mistaken one song was titled 'Persian Nights'. If it is an Austrian movie and Turkish immigrants are part of the plot what is the point in inserting Persian songs? One song from a popular Turkish singer 'Tarkan' was also played but itwas so insignificant. I can't help but ask why couldn't the producers find any song other than Persian nights.
7. Starting from the beginning until the end, presentation of both countries and peoples was always one-sided and unfair. Austria had modern buildings and historic structures with fast-moving traffic and people joyfully spending time at parks surrounded by colurful flowers. On the other hand Turks were 'immigrant pests' in Austria who did manual jobs and belonged to the lowest ranks of the society.
8. To continue with this one-sided or narrow angle presentation: Austria was a modern country but Turkey was shown as a place where the only transportation is done by mule-ridden carts and where garbage is strewn all over the streets and no structures but all squatter-type residences.
9. I cannot again help but ask: When the Austrian couple rode their Mercedes from Vienna to Turkey, they were shown exiting at Austria Immigration but not shown when entering Turkish land at the border in the city of Edirne. Any car coming from Europe by land has to pass through Edirne and Istanbul in order to reach other parts of the country.
10. Why was the couple never shown crusing through the wide and modern highways of Istanbul? Or passing through Bosphorus Bridge which connects two continents? Why no historical monument, mosque, church, edifice or watsoever was never given a chance to appear in the movie?
11. Why did the producers insist to make Turkey appear like a place which has got no big modern city, is composed of only one small town where mules and horses are used for transportation and has no concrete/asphalt road but roads filled with dust and garbage?
12. When the couple reached that impoverished town just after exiting Austria (as if that town and Austria are neighbors), why on earth did the wife had the Mercedes stopped in the middle of the road on that spot and ran away with the baby? The camera from a high angle showed that the town had no concrete road, the roadside was full of garbage cans and the town was saturated with squatter houses where sewage water freely ran through the streets. What was the rationale behind portraying Turkey this way? Could they not find any other more convenient site to let the wife stop and run out of the car?
13. Probably, the producers wished to present a comparison of Turkey and Austria in this shot: When the couple nears the village where the Turkish wife and husband live, a villager and his son in an animal-drawn cart leads the way. The transportation for the Turks is by animals while for foreigners it is a Mercedes Benz (MB)! The MB is then shown from a far shot following the animal-ridden carriage past through the fields and bumpy narrow paths at less than 10 kms per hour!
14. Why did Mustafa was introduced as 'mayor'? It was a very remote and small village and villages do not have mayors! He was only a 'muhtar' which has no direct translation to English. 'Muhtar' is a title given to the elected head of a village or neighbourhood within a town or city. Or did the producers intend to send a subtle message that the cities in Turkey all look this way and Mustafa is the mayors' personification?
15. As would be corroborated by any Turkish citizen, the villagers and farmers are very much industrious people and spend most of their time in fields and homes. They congregate at common and unique 'tea houses' to relax and socialize. However, the movie Absurdistan presented the villagers as people who never work but spend all their time at these tea houses chatting, back-biting, smoking, gambling and drinking. Did the movie subtly imply that the place which 'Absurdistan' referred to was this village and the 'absurd' people were those villagers?
16. There are many considerations a production team takes in selecting and agreeing with the cast in a movie. The Turkish actor 'Ahmet Ugurlu' was the producers' choice. I congratulate him and his wife in the movie 'Meltem Cumbul' with their smooth-flowing and understandable German. But the looks of Mr. Ugurlu did not really match with a common Turkish man's looks. Although it may be his own preference, he could have been asked to at least shave and wear a descent look since he represents the Turkish men in general. Foreign viewers now think that Turkish men all look alike and never shave. The contrast was very obvious with the Austrian husband: well-shaved and clean-looking office man who is also so gentle.
17. The English subtitles of the German conversation of the movie was tolerable with regards to the message, grammar and continuity. But in the case of the Turkish conversation, English subtitles were very much insufficient and could not relay the cultural message hidden in the conversation. English subtitles lagged far behind.
18. These are just some of the points that popped up in my mind just after watching the movie and what I could write in one sitting. The list can be very long but I only wanted to bring these to the attention of proper authorities and ask them to please take action.
19. Film Festival is a cultural event and is organized with the mere mission of promoting and interacting cultures BUT NOT at the expense of others. Austria deserves a long applause but not with this 'Absurdistan' which degrades one whole nation and people in the name of art and cinema.
20. We wish future movie and all other kinds of artistic projects will present all cultures and nations fairly and objectively and will not hype one while pulling the other down.
Thank You.
R.S. Foreign Journalist
I would like to share and bring some points to your attention with regards to the film from Austria titled 'Absurdistan' being shown at CINE 5 Europe Film Festival in Manila, Philippines.
I understand that 10 movies shown during the festival are from member countries of the European Union and it aims to foster cultural relations between Europe and Asia while promoting member countries' film industry abroad.
When I saw the pamphlet that provided a glimpse at the movies, I got more curious in 'Absurdistan' because it involved a Turkish couple. Thinking the film would provide a clue as to the portrayal of the Turkish population in Europe, I grabbed the opportunity and watched it with my colleague who is also a foreign journalist.
The story revolved around the two couples whose babies got switched at an hospital in Austria. Some time later the Austrian couple is informed that the baby they are holding is actually not theirs and was switched. The couple then takes an adventurous journey to Turkey by road to meet and exchange babies with the Turkish couple who was indeed 'deported' from Austria because of missing an immigration deadline for a few days.
Here, I would like to enumerate some disturbing points in 'Absurdistan':
1. The movie is from Austria and I would expect an artistic film directed by an Austrian director so that as viewers and members of media, we could have clues as to the present situation of Austrian film industry and latest developments in Austria. However, 'Absurdistan' was directed by Psychiatrist and filmmaker Houchang Allahyari who was born in Tehran in 1941 and has been a resident in Vienna for more than two decades.
2. What does 'Absurdistan' mean or imply? To whom does it refer? Since this word ends with (istan), it must refer to a place or location. Do they mean Austria? Or Turkey? Do they want to tell the viewers that Turkey is a place full of absurdity or the land of the absurds? And what is the relation of this title with the movie? Isn't it an insult to a whole nation?
3. If we are to take the stand of a movie critic, there were many inconsistencies which would be easily noticed by plain viewers. To wit: When the Austrian couple is already in Turkey and in the city where the Turkish couple's village was located, their Mercedes Benz car is hit from behind by another van. As the camera showed it from a high point, the van hit the MB at rear LEFT and the rear left side of the MB must have been damaged. However, when the couple later on takes a break and pulls over, we see that the damage is on the rear RIGHT of the car and the RIGHT taillight is broken!
4. Another inconsistency is when the couple arrives in the village, their Mercedes overheats and water steam comes out of the hood. The wife with the baby and the husband get off the car and the wife who has been at the wheel locks the car with the remote control. We see the signal lights blink as it is the case with most remote locks. However, moments later, 'Mustafa' who was named to be the mayor of the town gets in and steers it to his workshop while the kids push the car from behind. Once the car is fixed, Mustafa is shown driving around in the MB and even bringing it to the tea house. How could he get the keys immediately after the car got overheated without even meeting the couple? Or maybe he did have spare keys?
5. Towards the end of the movie, there was a big editing no-no. When the two couples were invited to a TV talk show, parts of the conversation was repeated twice at three points.
6. As the director is of Iran descent, the background music of the movie was Persian as indicated at the end of the film. If I am not mistaken one song was titled 'Persian Nights'. If it is an Austrian movie and Turkish immigrants are part of the plot what is the point in inserting Persian songs? One song from a popular Turkish singer 'Tarkan' was also played but itwas so insignificant. I can't help but ask why couldn't the producers find any song other than Persian nights.
7. Starting from the beginning until the end, presentation of both countries and peoples was always one-sided and unfair. Austria had modern buildings and historic structures with fast-moving traffic and people joyfully spending time at parks surrounded by colurful flowers. On the other hand Turks were 'immigrant pests' in Austria who did manual jobs and belonged to the lowest ranks of the society.
8. To continue with this one-sided or narrow angle presentation: Austria was a modern country but Turkey was shown as a place where the only transportation is done by mule-ridden carts and where garbage is strewn all over the streets and no structures but all squatter-type residences.
9. I cannot again help but ask: When the Austrian couple rode their Mercedes from Vienna to Turkey, they were shown exiting at Austria Immigration but not shown when entering Turkish land at the border in the city of Edirne. Any car coming from Europe by land has to pass through Edirne and Istanbul in order to reach other parts of the country.
10. Why was the couple never shown crusing through the wide and modern highways of Istanbul? Or passing through Bosphorus Bridge which connects two continents? Why no historical monument, mosque, church, edifice or watsoever was never given a chance to appear in the movie?
11. Why did the producers insist to make Turkey appear like a place which has got no big modern city, is composed of only one small town where mules and horses are used for transportation and has no concrete/asphalt road but roads filled with dust and garbage?
12. When the couple reached that impoverished town just after exiting Austria (as if that town and Austria are neighbors), why on earth did the wife had the Mercedes stopped in the middle of the road on that spot and ran away with the baby? The camera from a high angle showed that the town had no concrete road, the roadside was full of garbage cans and the town was saturated with squatter houses where sewage water freely ran through the streets. What was the rationale behind portraying Turkey this way? Could they not find any other more convenient site to let the wife stop and run out of the car?
13. Probably, the producers wished to present a comparison of Turkey and Austria in this shot: When the couple nears the village where the Turkish wife and husband live, a villager and his son in an animal-drawn cart leads the way. The transportation for the Turks is by animals while for foreigners it is a Mercedes Benz (MB)! The MB is then shown from a far shot following the animal-ridden carriage past through the fields and bumpy narrow paths at less than 10 kms per hour!
14. Why did Mustafa was introduced as 'mayor'? It was a very remote and small village and villages do not have mayors! He was only a 'muhtar' which has no direct translation to English. 'Muhtar' is a title given to the elected head of a village or neighbourhood within a town or city. Or did the producers intend to send a subtle message that the cities in Turkey all look this way and Mustafa is the mayors' personification?
15. As would be corroborated by any Turkish citizen, the villagers and farmers are very much industrious people and spend most of their time in fields and homes. They congregate at common and unique 'tea houses' to relax and socialize. However, the movie Absurdistan presented the villagers as people who never work but spend all their time at these tea houses chatting, back-biting, smoking, gambling and drinking. Did the movie subtly imply that the place which 'Absurdistan' referred to was this village and the 'absurd' people were those villagers?
16. There are many considerations a production team takes in selecting and agreeing with the cast in a movie. The Turkish actor 'Ahmet Ugurlu' was the producers' choice. I congratulate him and his wife in the movie 'Meltem Cumbul' with their smooth-flowing and understandable German. But the looks of Mr. Ugurlu did not really match with a common Turkish man's looks. Although it may be his own preference, he could have been asked to at least shave and wear a descent look since he represents the Turkish men in general. Foreign viewers now think that Turkish men all look alike and never shave. The contrast was very obvious with the Austrian husband: well-shaved and clean-looking office man who is also so gentle.
17. The English subtitles of the German conversation of the movie was tolerable with regards to the message, grammar and continuity. But in the case of the Turkish conversation, English subtitles were very much insufficient and could not relay the cultural message hidden in the conversation. English subtitles lagged far behind.
18. These are just some of the points that popped up in my mind just after watching the movie and what I could write in one sitting. The list can be very long but I only wanted to bring these to the attention of proper authorities and ask them to please take action.
19. Film Festival is a cultural event and is organized with the mere mission of promoting and interacting cultures BUT NOT at the expense of others. Austria deserves a long applause but not with this 'Absurdistan' which degrades one whole nation and people in the name of art and cinema.
20. We wish future movie and all other kinds of artistic projects will present all cultures and nations fairly and objectively and will not hype one while pulling the other down.
Thank You.
R.S. Foreign Journalist
What is Parental Love? When does a place become your nation? *spoiler*
pearlksp15 October 2005
Warning: Spoilers
The movie begs the question what makes someone your child? How far would you go for a child you "know" is "yours"? Can people co-parent a child or must it be the legal possession of the genetic parent? As an undercurrent it examines, "what is nationhood?" and "how can we reconcile responsibilities of a nation with that of responsibilities of humanity?"
That's not to say it's a heavy movie. Some call it a dark comedy. I wouldn't go that far. It is a broad comedy mixed with nail-biting drama.
It is rather a fish out of water story that can be examined and enjoyed on a few levels. It is mixed with political commentary for the viewer to assess who are the heroes.
Personally I rather liked the echo effect of the news being broadcast and retold in many homes. Risky for the director but rather poetic.
I'm sorry to hear the other reviewer found the portrayal of Turkey to be inflammatory and hurtful. I think the world at large is well aware of Turkey as a diverse country, modern, cosmopolitan in places, just as Austria and every other nation has rural areas and urban area.
Like the extremes of urban life to village life, Austrian life to Turkish life, the gender roles were hyperbole. A lot of the humor comes from the over-the-top parodies of men "responding with testosterone" while their women bond peaceably. For something billed as a drama, I was surprised at how much it made us laugh. (But then I laughed at Fahrenheit 9/11 and found the bias manipulation funny too.)
I respected that what could have become a narrow story of how the Austrian couple and Turkish couple became buddies and take on the world, the very real background tension of prejudice was not glossed over. It is thrown in periodically with care. The message of the movie is not to promote these notions as much as to examine them and take one case and say do the notions publicly held of refugees hold true?
It throws into contrast the reality of the risks the Austrian couple were taking and how far they moved across their prejudices to become friends and companions of the Turkish couple. The Turkish couple we got to know as lead roles were as intelligent, as educated, well respected at work.
Absurdistan seems an appropriate title for three reasons: Navigating the bureaucrats and political hoops in any country is remarkably similar. Even simple straightforward things seems to be reduced to ridiculous levels of pulling rank and currying favor. Secondly is also a fitting title for a comedy film of people who realize they are caught between what it is intuitively right and what bureaucracy says they must feel, be or do, both as as "citizens", as "the other", as the "father" or "mother". Thirdly, just when you think nothing else can go wrong or be botched up, more goes wrong(!) and the plot twists again.
That's not to say it's a heavy movie. Some call it a dark comedy. I wouldn't go that far. It is a broad comedy mixed with nail-biting drama.
It is rather a fish out of water story that can be examined and enjoyed on a few levels. It is mixed with political commentary for the viewer to assess who are the heroes.
Personally I rather liked the echo effect of the news being broadcast and retold in many homes. Risky for the director but rather poetic.
I'm sorry to hear the other reviewer found the portrayal of Turkey to be inflammatory and hurtful. I think the world at large is well aware of Turkey as a diverse country, modern, cosmopolitan in places, just as Austria and every other nation has rural areas and urban area.
Like the extremes of urban life to village life, Austrian life to Turkish life, the gender roles were hyperbole. A lot of the humor comes from the over-the-top parodies of men "responding with testosterone" while their women bond peaceably. For something billed as a drama, I was surprised at how much it made us laugh. (But then I laughed at Fahrenheit 9/11 and found the bias manipulation funny too.)
I respected that what could have become a narrow story of how the Austrian couple and Turkish couple became buddies and take on the world, the very real background tension of prejudice was not glossed over. It is thrown in periodically with care. The message of the movie is not to promote these notions as much as to examine them and take one case and say do the notions publicly held of refugees hold true?
It throws into contrast the reality of the risks the Austrian couple were taking and how far they moved across their prejudices to become friends and companions of the Turkish couple. The Turkish couple we got to know as lead roles were as intelligent, as educated, well respected at work.
Absurdistan seems an appropriate title for three reasons: Navigating the bureaucrats and political hoops in any country is remarkably similar. Even simple straightforward things seems to be reduced to ridiculous levels of pulling rank and currying favor. Secondly is also a fitting title for a comedy film of people who realize they are caught between what it is intuitively right and what bureaucracy says they must feel, be or do, both as as "citizens", as "the other", as the "father" or "mother". Thirdly, just when you think nothing else can go wrong or be botched up, more goes wrong(!) and the plot twists again.
A light-hearted look at European bureaucracy
zemilex12 August 2008
Warning: Spoilers
A previous poster, Mr 'Foreign Journalist' slated this film for essentially being anti-Turkish. On the contrary, the film portrays the bureaucratic nightmare facing a Turkish couple when their child is born in Austria - the Austrians are portrayed extremely critically, the Turks much less so. In many ways a simple family drama, 'Born in Absurdistan' highlights the different experiences of a middle-class Austrian couple and a working-class Turkish couple when their respective children are born - and how laws and bureaucracy can lead to inhuman situations. The Austrian couple (the husband, incidentally, works in the immigration department) has a private room at hospital and an influential father who helps them get past the miles of red tape. In contrast, the Turkish couple face a frustrating trek from one local government office to another and are eventually denied residence and face deportation. Then the Austrian couple discover that the babies have been switched in the hospital and 'their' child has already returned to Turkey as a result of its parents deportation. Suddenly, the shoe is on the other foot. Thus begins an odyssey across Europe to try to undo the 'mistake' that was made in the hospital. Both fathers are forced to learn tolerance and, in the case of the Austrian, to overcome racial prejudice. The main Turkish characters are extremely likable in this film, the Austrians typically conservative, intolerant and generally suspicious of immigrants. Using rather crude methods, the director nonetheless manages to bring humanity, humour and sensitivity to the issue of cross-cultural relations by building a story around the thing that unifies all parents: the love of one's child. The film tackles the bigotry and racism endemic in Europe, while avoiding the problems in immigrant communities - in this sense it is a somewhat rose-tinted view on racial relations, but an enjoyable film nonetheless.
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