Engelchen

This is a small, uneven movie, but the characters are well drawn, something so rare in German movies. Ramona, Andrzej and Lucy were all fascinating in very different ways. Susanne Lothar was truly excellent, and played Ramona with truth and sensitivity when few other actresses could have resisted the temptation to froth at the mouth and make a big show of gnawing the wallpaper. I'd seen her the day before in "Funny Games" and that finely drawn performance made this one even more special. The direction here is full of heart, with a real understanding of loneliness throughout. Occasionally it drifts into the realm of the "deliberately lyrical" to the detriment of its essential story, but one comes away remembering the things I sense the director would have wanted the audience to take away from it.

Romance blossoms between Ramona a young German woman who works in a lipstick factory and Andrzej a Pole who crosses the German border and sells blackmarket cigarettes at the local railway station. The mood of the film is rather depressing. Life for Ramona is rather hard and the environment in which she lives is far from cheering. Ramona herself is becoming a rather dull and uninteresting person. The clattering of noisy trains with windows flashing past punctuate the various scenes. I wondered at first what these scenes had to do with the story, but later all is revealed. Ramona's dream of finding a husband and having a baby seems to be fulfilled when she suddenly becomes pregnant. Her former dismal life now starts to glow with happiness as Andrzej weaves his magic spell. But all is not well as a series of disappointments overtake them. The central figure in this film is Ramona (Sophie Rous), a very unhappy girl indeed with little future until her sister suggests she do something really outrageous. Following her sister's advice she gets into deeper trouble. The lead role is admirably played with numerous scenes being quite heart-rending e.g the loss of her baby, the death of her little caged bird and final mental breakdown. You'll probably need a glass of vodka after viewing this one.