A Synopsis of the film 'Go West'

Although I know that this a foreign film, I disliked the fact of having to read subtitles.  When being forced to focus on subtitles, I tend to miss great deal of the film's details: facial expressions, body language, the meaning of tonal inflections. “Go West” is an extremely well done docudrama whose feel and atmosphere is like that of docudramas based upon WWII Germany.  The most important aspect of the film's construction is its lighting.  In “Go West” lighting isn't just a visual element, but a character.  The film's lighting acts as a POV (point of view) character. It gives its viewer a sense of narration. In conjunction with its textural landscape, the film's lighting transmits mood and intensity; it as if dialogue was meant to take second place in conveying mood and feeling in an attempt to stimulate not intellectual sympathy, but first hand visceral (gut) feelings within its audience. What is particularly interesting is the film's use of shadows when focused upon Milena/Kenan as woman not man. In fact, when full lighting is utilized to expose Milena/Kenan as a man, we are able to see Kenan’s feminine attributes (Milena) both facially and somatically. This occurs both within the bedroom scene and when he is crossing the border with his cello.

However; in using full lighting to illustrate Kenan’s masculinity, the lighting as narrator begins to blind and deceive us and Kenan due to its twisting of his sexual/gender identity both within material reality and his own psyche as his anima prevents him from shedding her vestiges in order to preserve his male ego from psycho emotional attacks against him even when confronted with its annihilation from both outside and internal forces. Including Ranka’s betrayal as she moves from ally to oppressor to satisfy her own sexual cravings. As Kenan is forced deeper into emotional and sexual intrigues to keep his secret and prevent his and Milan’s deaths, he begins to experience not only doubt concerning his relationship Milan, but his own sexual and national identity. It's during this time that Kenan’s anima Milena begins to emerge into his multiple realities: psychological, emotional, physical/sexual and geopolitical. 

Kenan’s dilemma is one where he has been forcibly removed from privileged male other to oppressed female other.  Rather he consciously desired it or not, Kenan’s transition from man to woman is not only brutality savage, but devastating to both oppressed and enlightened oppressor.  The reason why this film could prove devastating to enlightened oppressors is because, an enlightened oppressor possesses not only varying degrees of empathy, but an understanding of history and Poli-economics. Due to their awareness of these subjects, they may not be incapable of plausible deniability in terms of how their actions have affected those occupying the space of “otherness”.