Takva – A Man′s Fear Of God


For over 30 years, Muharrem has led a quiet life as an employee in the same
traditional part of Istanbul where he was born. A modest, introverted and
lonely man of humble circumstances, he is a strict observer of the Islamic
precepts: he prays a great deal and practices sexual abstinence. Muharrem′s
religious devotion brings him to the attention of the leaders of a rich and
powerful religious group. His reputation for being trustworthy and duteous
prompts them to offer him job as a rent collector for their numerous properties.
Muharrem receives a new set of clothes; he is given a mobile phone and
computer. All at once he finds himself in a world that he had previously
succeeded in evading.

Before long he begins to encounter such things as hypocrisy and alcoholic excess; to his own consternation he discovers his own penchant for tyranny and pride and even becomes an unwitting accom plice in a con trick. His inner peace is over. Day and night he is tortured by the image of a seductive woman who haunts his dreams. Until now, Muharrem was able to differentiate between worldly and spiritual values. But now the balance and order of his devout existence is in ruins and his fear of God′s punishment is tearing him apart.

Source: 57. Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin (Catalogue)