Abgefahren

Mia wants to be a rally driver and together with her three girlfriends she enters the cave race. Her opponent Cosmo is interested in her but Mia is already involved with Sherin, her Girlfriend. Since she only drives a Volkswagen ,she bets with Cosmo who adds to the bet ,that he wants to spend a night with her since he drives a better car. Then saying she owes him a kiss he kisses her. Mia agrees. When she wins against Cosmo her victory becomes her defeat when on tape it is discovered that Sherin has sabotaged Cosmos car so Mia can win. There was a lot of resemblance with Chasing Amy, the story that a girl loves a girl first then a boy later. The leading actors were looking good,very nice hear styles and i liked her wardrobe. Sharin was short and nasty and not a very nice person. The movie was made in a manner of American movies from eighties which I liked. A theme, a girl likes a boy and a boy yearns for the girl is something you don't see anymore. I watched the movie with subtitles. Really liked her car when Cosmo painted it in Pink with red hearts all over it. Movie was a slow narrative, there were some jokes but mostly the sexual tension between Mia and Cosmo held my attention.

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 enjoyed "Abgefahren" very much because of it´s good humor and excellent actors. The film is neither about cars nor about testosterone, but there are beautiful cars in it and the girls certainly stir your testosterone! The film is really about men and women and love. The races are perfect metaphors of their conflict-laden relationships. The female lead is a star in Germany and should soon be known internationally. And the soundtrack is one to hear in your car. Intelligent entertainment. Very nice.

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.