Innocent love and harsh realities of life in exile

MANILA, Philippines — 2012 Austrian film Your Beauty Is Worth Nothing (Deine Schönheit ist nichts wert) tells a moving story of a child’s first love and a family of immigrants trying to integrate in a foreign land.

Twelve-year-old Veysel, named after Turkish poet Asik Veysel, has been living in Vienna with his family for months after fleeing from Turkey. His father is a Kurd who fought with guerillas against the Turkish government, while his mother is a Turkish. His older brother Mazlum, who resents his father, joins a street gang in Vienna.

The threat of deportation always looms over the family’s head as they are only granted with temporary asylum status, adding unbearable tension at home. At school, Veysel struggles in studying and making friends because he does not speak German.

As a respite from his problems, Veysel creates a fantasy of his own with his classmate Ana, a Yugoslavian immigrant who is oblivious to his feelings. With the help of his macho neighbor Cem, he slowly works on a homework that involves reciting a poem in German. He chooses the translation of a song from his home country (Your Beauty Is Worth Nothing) to dedicate to his first love.

A son of Kurdish immigrants himself, the filmmaker Hüseyin Tabak knows his subject well. Your Beauty Is Worth Nothing is his film school project that touches on a child’s gentle and boundless view of love set against a tough immigrant oppression backdrop.

Immigration is a sensitive subject all over the world, especially today when conflicts and poverty drive people to look for new lives elsewhere. More than a million migrants and refugees have been crossing Europe since 2015, sparking crisis as European Union countries struggle to deal with the influx.

The combinations of imaginary scenes with shots of his real life present the harsh realities of the life of Veysel whom everyone will hope for a better life. The film also addresses themes of integration, struggle for identity and importance of communication, whether or not it is verbal.

Some of the family conflicts are unbearably painful—his father’s past wounds and his brother’s involvement in illegal drugs—but Veysel’s idyllic fantasies and his interactions with this neighbor are the nicest bits of the film.

There is an unexpected twist at the end of the film that rips hearts but seems exactly right.

The young Abdulkadir Tuncer’s performance as the romantic Veysel is remarkable. It is moving, heartbreaking and wonderful all at once. Nazmi Kirik’s performance as Veysel’s uncommunicative father also leaves audience choking back tears.

Veysel’s determination to express his feelings for Ana in a foreign language and overcome the unforgiving struggles of being an immigrant is the true beauty of the film.

Beauty Is Worth Nothing is one of the 24 films featured in this year’s installment of Cine Europa. Catch this sentimental film until September 24, Tuesday at Shang Cineplex in Mandaluyong. Admission is free on a first come, first served basis.