Review: Faith Akin's Grandiose And Dull 'The Cut' Starring Tahar Rahim

When Turkish-German auteur Fatih Akin pulled “The Cut” from the Cannes slate citing “personal reasons,” the rumor mill went to work overtime. Certainly, Cannes would have seemed like the natural home for the filmmaker’s next opus, so if, as was suggested, he had not been guaranteed the competition slot that his profile surely demanded, what could the reason be? Politics? Pique? Some internecine beef we weren’t aware of? Within all that gossip however, there was one possible explanation that never really got much play: that the film would not be very good. Akin’s previous films, including such terrific, joltingly energetic, critically lauded and awarded titles as “Head-on” and “The Edge of Heaven” (the first two in a thematic trilogy that “The Cut” is mooted to complete), seemed to put that beyond the realm of possibility. And in truth, it’s not not very good. It’s close to a disaster.

The story (co-written by Akin and veteran screenwriter Mardik Martin) can be briefly summarized...