 In  Gegen die Wand  Cahit, a 40-something male from Mersin in Turkey has removed everything Turkish from his life. He has become an alcoholic drug addict and at the start of the movie wants to end it all. Sibel a 20-something female from Hamburg wishes to please her Turkish parents yet yearns for freedom. She has had her nose broken by her brother for being seen holding hands with a boy and yet she can not break her mother s heart and run away. She too attempts suicide and she first approaches Cahit there at the Hospital. Sibel asks Cahit to marry her, as she believes this to be the way out of her parent s house. She promises Cahit that their relationship will be like roommates, not like a married couple. The film follows Sibel and Cahit as they get married, become closer and eventually fall in love. Cahit then accidentally kills one of Sibel s lovers and is sent to jail. Following Turkish culture Sibel s brother goes out to kill her, as she has hurt the family s honor. Sibel flees to Turkey where she, in her pain of missing Cahit, becomes addicted to opium and eventually tries to commit suicide. The film ends with Cahit being let out of jail and going to Sibel, but Sibel has started a new life in Istanbul and is unable to go with Cahit.