Bandidas

There have been many movies about people escaping from jail, but few (maybe none) are like "Bandits". It focuses on a group of disgruntled young women in a German prison. When they get a chance to play outside the prison, they naturally use that chance to escape. But that's where the movie takes a surprise turn. The become the most popular band in the country.

It's a really funny movie (yes, the Germans can be funny). I particularly liked some of the things that they said while packing airplane utensils, and just the way that one of the women had a sarcastic attitude and chose to go around bending the rules just a little. A modern classic.

Hey, this definitely is one to watch. A one of a kind "German Females Shawshank Redemption goes Rock'n Roll." It was a big hit in Germany, though of course that is usually a deterrent for some odd reason. Don't let it be. If you follow video and DVD Releases, you will know it has been available for a few months now (finally) in the USA, where, I believe a movie like this would be a huge success. That is of course if it were in American English and starred Julia Roberts, instead of Katja Riemann, a big star in Germany, but of course a nobody in the US, in spite appearing in the only German movies released in the US in the past 5 years including Der Bewegte Mann - MAYBE, MAYBE NOT, and the COMEDIAN HARMONISTS. She is awesome in this role. If you like prison films, and triumph of the underdog, seemingly against all odds, run and rent this film. It is for you. As the Shawshank Redemption remains the second top-rated movie of all time here, it would follow that BANDITS should be a comparable success in the foreign film department. Additionally, it has all that female bonding which men (who usually make up over 52% of the audience) and I believe most emancipated women love to watch. See it now. You never know when these European films suddenly go out of print. In Germany, it will always be available, and is already a classic, as the previous comment indicates, and represents the majority opinion here. But no one can pinpoint why German movies are just being totally ignored since the 80s, when in fact, they have experienced a rebirth, and have become so much more accessible, so much more American, as has been the trend in almost everything in post World War II Germany. (RUN, LOLA, RUN to many is not really a movie, but a series of music videos according to many, and so can not really be called an exception.) But BANDITS is a real movie, not particularly German AT ALL. Most people will really get a kick out of it if they only gave it a shot. Watch it.

While watching movies about music or musicians, I often sympathize with these poor bastards of actors: The script requires them to play - say - a guitar, but they obviously have no clue as to how to even hold this instrument. And then the singing voice sounds so suspiciously different from the one they talk with...

In this respect, 'Bandits' is a welcome surprise: Obviously, these actresses know far more than just the pure basics of their instruments and deliver a convincing performance as a rock band. And sitting through to the end of the credits reveals that they not only did their own singing, but wrote the major part of the music and lyrics by themselves, most notably "Luna" Jasmin Tabatabai.

For me, the great music more than compensates for the rather fantastic, sometimes clichéd plot with some minor holes. All in all, a remarkable movie!

I just couldn't leave the last comment to this movie as it was. I haven't seen the English dubbed version, so this might be a reason why you got such a bad impression of the movie. Having seen the original German version, I must disagree. It's not MTV 'fodder' and the characters are not stereotypical. Actually, the movie leaves a lot in the dark about the character, things you have to think about yourself when watching it. If this was 'overexplained' in the English version to make it easier for the audience, it's not the fault of the director or the plot. It IS an awfully good movie, but seeing the bad critics it got from the English speaking part, I'd advise you to watch the German version.

BANDITS is great fun. Though the plot is a bit light and at times melodramatic, there is a wonderful urgency and energy about it. The music, the editing, and the free-spirited nature of the film make it a joy to watch. It is escapist fare at its best.