Mi vida empieza hoy

Germany's answer to 'Thirteen' poses many questions about teenage life. Amongst them the strength of friendship and loyalty, the longing for acceptance and stability and the desire to 'beat' rather than 'be beaten'. Where "Große Mädchen weinen nicht" is poles apart from it's teen-angst predocessors is in the acting, charecters particularly it's secondary players and use of narrative.

Kati and Steffi, the film's lead charecters aren't burdened with mass dysfuctionality or traumas, they are just two typical teens driven only by their on-going friendship. Things change however when Steffi witnesses her father with another woman. What becomes petty revenge, envelopes into tragedy beyond Steffi's comprehension and the loyal Kati having to decide whether she wants to play a part in it all. With Steffi in denial and Kati in guilt and the film's intergral 'revenge' story resolved almost halfway in, the remainder of the film (and it's real heart) is devoted to the complexities of teen-emotion. Steffi's cold controlling aloofness hides her painful insecurities and Kati's delicate need for love becomes secondary to her sense of right and wrong.

Maria Von Helland consciously mentions the girls sex-lifes, even potential drug-use but treats it matter-of-factly. She turns a seemingly complex tale into an entertaining strikingly simple one of teenage friendship. In her two leads, Anna Maria Mulhe and Karoline Herfurth, we have two remarkably gifted actreses, able to convey more with looks and well judged dialoge then scene stealing quirky performances. Josefine Domes and Jennifer Ulrich fare well also, conveying alot over limited screentime, as this is after all primarily about Steffi and Kati. Because of this, male and adult charecters suffer a little, but not in an obvious way and adding complex male personalities into the mix may just have leant the film's delicate balence towards moralising.

Both unique and not particularly European (the film's soundtrack consists of English sung pop), this is aguably every bit as strong as teen friendship classics like 'Stand By Me' and 'The Breakfast Club', more so for it's lack of sensationialism.

Incredibly watchable, instantly appreciated, this is a film to seek out, as well made gems like this on such a well-trod subject can only become few and far between....

I'm out of words after watching this film.. It's totally fascinating! The acting by the young actresses is flawless, and pretty much everyone else is also doing a good job throughout the movie. The storyline is also quite harsh but intriguing. It has the features of a coming of age movie, and what not. Someone has said "underrated masterpiece" about this movie before.Well, I couldn't agree more.. Although I'm a fan of German movies in general, I have to say this one was special for sure. Especially the outstanding performance of youngster Anna Maria Mühe adds delight to the film. The only minor flaw about the flick in general is that it should have been some 12-15 minutes longer instead of pacing up through the last moments. Other than that, it meets my criteria of perfection. Go see it NOW!

9/10

"Big Girls Don't Cry" is a little German gem about two affluent late teen females - best friends since childhood - whose bond of love for each other is tested when life experiences force them to cope with serious matters of character and integrity. The film is a stylish shoot, imbued with the ever present aura of a female auteur, which offers some superb performances by a young cast, especially tyro Mühe, as it wends it way through a somewhat thin story with realism, balance, proportion, and a distinct absence of that most prevalent of cliches - teen angst. A huge kudo to von Heland for this engrossing little foreign subtitled film which will play best with females, especially teens and young adults into foreign flicks. (B)

Note - If you like this film, you might want to give "Bandits 1997" a try.

I'm currently studying with an exchange guy. He's from Germany and is learning many different languages. A very smart boy and fun to be with; and although he speaks to us in our language, it would be interesting to listen to him speaking German. Watching this film, I realized how that would be. Besides the German language itself, he would probably speak the same way; the expressions, and special words, because this film's characters live in the teenage world. The piece is very brave, and I don't know what the reception was at its country in its time, but director Maria Von Heland is trying to declare: "These things happen…And they happen to teenagers".

In this very real reality, kids go to school and have best friends, hang out with boyfriends, form rock bands, carry on a sexual life and so on. Von Heland's screenplay covers all of these aspects three dimensionally, because it expands them with a lot of knowledge. Best friends are what Kati (newcomer at the time Anna Maria Muhe) and Steffi (Karoline Herfurth). The first has just ended a relationship and the last has a boyfriend named Carlos (David Winter), who is in a rock band. The sexual life of teenage girls isn't something understood, it comes by the person each one is. The movie deals with this letting us know that Steffi and Carlos have known each other for a long time but they still haven't made love.

On the other side, Kati is always looking for chances; going out late, meeting older guys and carrying condoms inside her jeans. All this we learn when we are taken inside her house, where a ruined family clearly lives. In one scene, while Kati's family is having dinner, Von Heland shows with a still camera the faces of each of the members, and it becomes obvious; it's a tense and dysfunctional life. We later experience a father-daughter talk about some discoveries, and Kati and her younger sister praying to God while we listen to their parents' screams. They say: "God, I know you're very busy and all that, but please make our parents divorce soon". There's another strong scene near the ending, where Kati prays by herself.

Strong is about everything in this movie. Steffi also has his family issues, we find out. We know the character and we believe she'd resolve them maturely, but when Tessa (Josefine Domes) comes into the picture, and Steffi resolves, we realize that Kati is probably more mature than her and therefore how contradictory life is. Steffi has her motives for what she does with Tessa and everything she does later, so does Kati when she tells her mom: "This is who I am…Look at me!". So does Tessa's mom when she acts, and Kati's mom when she gets mad, and Kati's father when he advices her, and everybody else. One notable thing about the feature is that is difficult to take sides; you understand everyone.

Another very remarkable detail is the use of music, all of it in English, representing each moment of the story with lyrics and songs according to the music people of the movie characters' age listen. Everything that happens to the two friends is something that could occur to any friendship any day. Because when two people are friends since little, it is something given (in my case with my ever best friend Matías), and when they fight they always make up; it is the tough bond that unites them. But the truth is that sometimes there are some much stronger things that test that bond; and that is the time to find out if the feelings are real. What Kati and Steffi live is way too strong for their age, but it is up to them to work it out, while is up to the movie to show us how powerful friendship truly is.

Kati (Anna Maria Mühe) and Steffi (Karoline Herfurth) are best friends since their childhood. They spend most of their time together, in school and in their leisure time. Kati has a quite hysterical mother, while the parents of Steffi seems to be in permanent love. When Steffi finds her father Hans (Stefan Kurt) with his lover in a night-club, her world turns upside-down. Steffi plots an evil revenge against Tessa (Josefine Domes), the daughter of Hans' lover. Her plan brings serious and tragic consequences to her family, her friends and herself. "Große Mädchen Weinen Nicht" is a powerful drama about reaching adulthood. The story begins like a common teen movie, but later it shifts in a very intense, dramatic and credible drama. The story does not spare any character, showing the consequences of the maleficent action of Steffi not only to her, but to her friends and parents, teaching a lesson without being moralist specially to the target viewers - the teenagers. The soundtrack is also magnificent and I feel sorrow when I see only 287 votes in IMDb, since this movie deserves to be discovered by fans of a drama about contemporary teenagers. This is the first movie I have watched with Anna Maria Mühe, who is amazingly beautiful, and her supportive character is very nice. Yesterday I saw another movie ("Mädchen, Mädchen") of the gorgeous and sexy German actress called Karoline Herfurth and I truly believe she will become very famous worldwide in a near future. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "Meninas Não Choram" ("Girls Do not Cry")