Hatun Sürücü was a young Kurdish woman living in Berlin when she was shot near her apartment. She was 23 years old. Her "crime"? Not wanting to stay in an arranged marriage, and subsequently doing everything possible to become a capable single mother and someone able to provide a life for herself and her loved ones. She was near the end of her training to become an electrician. Because of this, and because of the way she dressed and acted, she was shot in the head. Three times. By at least one of her brothers.
A Regular Woman depicts a potted history of this young woman's life, from her returning to an unsupportive family after leaving her husband to the court case that took place after her death. Not only was it far from a given that any one would be prosecuted, but there was also the fact that Sürücü wouldn't want her family to take custody of her son.
Adapted into a screenplay by Florian Öeller, from a book about the real events, this is the kind of powerful film that is so impactful and memorable that it makes me immediately want to seek out everything else helmed by director Sherry Hormann. I seem to have seen nothing else from her filmography, and that really needs to change. This is dark and upsetting material treated in a respectful and careful way, allowing viewers to celebrate the life being shown and to reacquaint themselves with the kind of abuse, misogyny, and injustice that can occur every single day, especially to anyone who just wants to be "a regular woman".
Almila Bagriacik is fantastic in the lead role, and I can only imagine the weight that she carried on her shoulders throughout the filming (there's also a little bit of real footage used in the film). The actors playing her brothers also do very good work, with Rauand Taleb playing the one who arguably seems more incensed by his sister than anyone else, and there's also excellent support from Lina Wendel, Lara Aylin Winkler, and one or two others lucky enough to play people who played an important part in seeking something close to proper justice for Sürücü.
This is not an easy watch, nor is it telling us a tale that we can dismiss as an unfortunate one-off. That just makes it all the more worthy of your time though, especially when the message is delivered in a way that balances the senselessness and horror of the tragedy with celebration of a life lived in defiance of archaic patriarchal oppression. Hormann seems to be someone I need to become more familiar with, and I am certainly pleased to have been made more familiar, via this movie, with the brilliant spirit that was Hatun Sürücü.
9/10
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