Das Maedchen Rosemarie was a very well-done film. It is about a call-girl,
Rosemarie, who wants to move up in the world. She begins circulating with
important capitalist business clients. Then a french client gets her to become a spy for him, and she begins to feel like she has a lot more power and influence then she really does, and becomes a threat to all of the men. In the meanwhile, all she really wants from the situation is to be an upperclass member like all of them. It's sad because, being a prostitute, she can never really be like a rich man's wife, or a member of elite society.
One unique thing they did with it was to have two musicians (the two men with whom Rosemarie initially lives and works with) sing songs throughout the movie that have to do with what Rosemarie is currently doing. Their songs reflect on the current situation and foreshadow things to come. It is sort of similar to the two male singers in "There's Something about Mary," only this movie, unlike that one, is not moronic.
The fim's being in black and white gives it another interesting effect. It does not have much background music, and reminds one of an Alfred Hitchcock movie in
that respect. It focuses on interesting (and altered/distorted to sound stranger) background noises like the whooshing sound of revolving doors, or the sound of an elevator going up. It also does interesting camera shots such as looking at the carpet (and the shadows of revolving doors) instead of the doors
themselves. It reminded me of how, in Psycho, Alfred Hitchcock chose to focus on the running water, and shadows, in the famous shower/murder scene,
instead of actually depicting the violence.
I really liked this movie, and thought it was very well done, and something
different. Aside from the technical aspects of it, the general story-line was really good in itself, and had a strong message about capitalist germany and how the business and capitalist were taking over everything, and became more
important than the personal lives of less cold-hearted, business-minded people such as Rosemarie. Even though she was a prostitute, she was sort of innocent at the same time, because she could not comprehend how hopeless it was for
her to wish to be a member of the upper class, and how most people were only
using her. She was just a luxury to them, and one more thing they could afford to buy for themselves to make their lives more interesting. They did not want for her to hold any real sway over them, or affect their lives in any way. She did not realize how dangerous it would be for her when she attempted to become a real person.
