Schwarze Schafe

This is dirty, filthy and frenzied cinema, with an array of cataclysmic characters, hell-bent on creating a modern cult classic. The foul-stench of comical entertainment pollutes the air, but smells of fresh originality. The film's five ludicrous story lines brings the viewer close encounters of the worst kind of Berlin inhabitants, including Satan worshippers, sexually-frustrated teenagers, a drunk lottery winner and a foulmouthed tour guide. The vulgarity of it all will prompt the odd nauseous belch from audience members, but the humour outweighs the crudeness and Oliver Rihs' black and white film blinds with comic crudity and colour. Black Sheep may not break the bank at the Box-Office, but it is almost certain to cause a stir in DVD sales.

I felt some of the reviews displayed were rather unfair to such a beautiful little gem of a movie. It steps away from the mundane American teen films where all these teenage networks must come together for an audience to understand the movie or find some point or moral. The beautiful black and white photography is a fine artistic choice from Rihs, maybe in homage to his own crazy memories.

The film is a study of the fickle teenagers lost in drugs, alcohol and sexual identity. Not to mention the wonderful critique of the bourgeois (the canal boat scenes) looking down upon these vagabond/rogue characters. They may look down but they still want a piece of the action.

A very funny film which pushes the boundaries of what a viewer is capable of finding amusing. Sodomy of your grandmother may not be to everybody's taste but I just had to giggle.

well acted, well presented and certainly well under rated.

go on give it a go!

This is low-budget-movie-making at it's worst. After 10 minutes (which are good for some laughs) you start to notice painfully, that there is virtually no script or story. And the jokes don't get better either. Instead the director follows the old teen movie-method the more disgusting the funnier. But since there is no story to speak of and since there are no sympathetic characters, you just don't care what happens to the these people. Instead you get angrier and angrier, because the film is noisy and hysteric all the time but hasn't got anything to say. It's a shame that a lot of good actors are wasted (although I wonder what made them join this film...)

What a great film! true characters, fondly observed, sincerely played.

It took a Swiss to do the present ultimate film about Berlin, about the city's oh so colorful and diverse life concepts that tend to flow into despair, without spoiling any single character. Everything You always wanted to know about these Berliners. A declaration of love for the city, by showing the absurd extremes of life, truly sticking to the phrase: reality beats every prejudice.

New German cinema without political stickiness. A kind of Short Cuts version of Oh Boy. A must see in the special features of the DVD : the character's future.

No pun intended - I actually don't know how the saying came about - and it seems to translate into languages too. German and English for sure to name two languages that play a role here. You have Berlin - the location of the story and movie ... and the characters apparently are giving vibes that people who live there connect too. That said, I do think you do not have to live there to get the movie/story and the characters.

Liking them on the other hand? A different story - there are some really good actors involved in this - quite young but many of them made a career and if you follow and watch German productions ... well you probably will recognize some.

There is some nudity here too - even the last frame may shock those who can't handle some skin ... don't drown in that ... feeling (no pun intended). A weird drama with many stories to follow ... and full of surprises I reckon ... like life? Well not mine ... but then again ...