Das Mädchen Rosemarie

Terrific acting by all of the principal players, especially Hoss as the "bad girl" Rosemarie, whose heartbreak is no less real for the fact that she's a high-priced prostitute. An intelligent, compassionate, forthright film about the Wages of Sin and about the fact that those wages are often paid threefold by women with no economic power or social status who remain at the bottom of the heap while the elite pay next to nothing for the indulgence of their vices and snicker all the way to the bank. Sounds like an old theme, and it is, but this film puts a fresh face on it, with a sharp-tongued screenplay and lots of great 1950s clothing and decor.

If you liked the intense British film "Dance with a Stranger," you'll probably like "A Girl Called Rosemarie." Both films are about feisty, doomed women who fall in love with the wrong men and suffer deeply for it. Various arias and symphonic excerpts from the Verdi opera "La Traviata" (about a doomed courtesan) are used to excellent effect in the soundtrack of "A Girl Called Rosemarie." The spoken German is crisp and enjoyable, and the English subtitles are clear and unobtrusive. Enjoy!

The film is based on a true story. The film does not show how the story ended, but Rosemarie Nitribitt was murdered in 1957. The killer was never identified, and there were theories of a cover-up in highest places.

The film itself captures the atmosphere of post-war Germany, materialistic, repressive, hypocritical, conservative. The sensitive use of camera and lighting manages to capture the contrast between an extreme Technicolor effect in some scenes and the gloomy street scenes in others. Heiner Lauterbach is the wealthy businessman who falls for the streetwise Rosemarie played by Nina Hoss, Til Schweiger plays the pimp Nadler.