Abgefahren

What is this supposed to be? "The Fast and the Furious" in German? The "Story": A bunch of trashy looking girls who behave like men participate in illegal car races. A unrealistic love story is woven into the movie. Are German filmmakers not able to produce anything better than this? I mean I´ve seen worse German comedies, but this one is once again full of extremely banal jokes and clichés about men and women. The characters are invented in a rather caricatural manner. The acting is not very good. Especially Rebecca Mosselman alias Liane is pathetic. Once again a German comedy which is not worth watching. If you want to watch a GOOD German movie instead, go and watch "Gegen die Wand".

Abgefahren may not be high art, but it's a fun little movie. The leads (male and female) are all very appealing, especially Felicitas Woll, who deserves international exposure. The cars are also excellent. Director Jakob Schäuffelen does love those hero shots, but in this film it works fine, because it is such a playful story. Sonja Rom's cinematography is, as usual, excellent. On the downside, for the English-speaking audience, the current DVD only has the film in German with no subtitles or other languages. That's too bad, because I think this film could appeal to a wider audience. Abgefahren may not be classic cinema, but sometimes all you want is to be entertained and Abgefahren does the trick.

It is never easy to make a movie like this and satisfy the producers, the viewers and the critics. There is an expectation with a movie like this. And this does try to play with those expectations. It does not succeed always (or maybe not even most of the time) - you just have to suspend your disbelief ... and let go of certain expectations and whatever you may feel is offensive as ... well you know what! Because the movie has tendencies - or rather wants to please as many people as possible.

So just take this with a grain salt and enjoy this for what it is. Also it is great to see Nina, a rapper I know from a particular song and who is as good looking as they come. It is almost a shame she never got famous for her rap skills (even if you don't believe she is a good enough actor, her skills on the mic are impeccable) ... but at least we have her here in an interesting role ... a bit like a succubus ... I totally understand how everyone is sucked into whatever she does ... in the movie that is.

I do know some of the writers of this btw, they were my screenwriting teachers for a year a long time ago - and I believe that not everything they intended to put in this movie got put in there. Maybe I am a bit biased ... but then again no one is 100% objective when rating anyway.

I liked this movie very much because it has not only beautiful girls and cars but it is also very funny. The actors are very good. The images look rich although the film probably was not very expensive. The car races are not very realistic. Nobody uses oldtimers for private races. But I believe that is creative freedom. These cars have personality, just like the people in the movie. I guess female viewers appreciate the romance of this movie.

Okay, we have seen fast and furious films where people chase each other and shoot each other and hate each other. But are our lives really made out of stuff like this? Am I an undercover cop, are You an organized criminal? The movie Abgefahren is such a nice example of a gasoline-driven film, which is, in fact, character-driven. The way the girl and the (cute!) boy heat each other up with their witty dialogs is exhilarating. They seem to be like a cat and a dog, both too proud to admit that they love each other, both wanting to be strong and cool and on the other hand longing to embrace each other. Can You imagine Hepburn sitting in a Dodge and Tracy sitting in a Cobra, arguing about who is the better driver? No? Well, watch Abgefahren!