Gabriele Hengel in Mädchen Mädchen! (2001)
Pics
Review
If you don’t exactly know what to expect from Mädchen, Mädchen try to imagine it as the female version of American Pie – only made in Germany. It was directed by the then 27-year-old Dennis Gansel, an extremely talented young filmmaker whose previous movie, the made for TV political-thriller Das Phantom, earned him an Adolf Grimme Award. Christian Zübert’s (director of Lammbock) screenplay was subsequently reworked by Maggie Peren (who also co-wrote Das Phantom with Dennis Gansel) in order to give the movie a more feminine touch. The cast consists of mainly no-names with Diana Amft (Knallharte Jungs), Karoline Herfurth (Crazy) and Felicitas Woll (Nesthocker – Familie zu verschenken) in the leading roles. Supporting characters are played by Andreas Christ (Hand in Hand), Max Riemelt (Ein Weihnachtsmärchen - Wenn alle Herzen schmelzen), Florian Lukas (Wambo), Henning Baum (Wen küsst die Braut? ), Martin Reinhold (Paul is Dead), Max Richter (Bang Boom Bang - Ein todsicheres Ding), Frederic Welter (Crazy) and veteran actress Ulrike Kriener (Reise in die Nacht).
Inken (Amft), Lena (Herfurth) and Vicky (Woll) are three more or less normal 17- to 18-year-old girls. While Vicky claims to be sexually satisfied with a variety of partners, Inken is together with Tim (Welter). Lena on the other hand is the youngest among them who’s completely inexperienced in terms of sexual intercourse. On her 18th birthday Inken admits to the others that she’s never had an orgasm before although she’s been trying desperately with Tim (who says that she already had one for sure and just didn’t realize it…). However, after an enlightening ride on her new bike (and its saddle seat) she finally knows what a real orgasm feels like and subsequently dumps her ignorant lover. Now the three girls start on a quest for further sexual adventures: Lena pursues a relationship with singer Nick (Christ), Vicky gains some cybersex experience and Inken herself tries to find someone new by setting up an advert…the results are quite a mixed bag!
The attempt of telling an old story from a new perspective with a young director and fresh, unspent faces works fine throughout most of the movie. Diana Amft is especially outstanding in a hilariously funny comic-performance that doubtlessly rivals those of Jason Biggs in the American Pie movies. In addition cute Karoline Herfurth plays the silent Lena perfectly and makes her the most realistic character of the trio. Lena is the soul of Mädchen, Mädchen and thus its secret star. Felicitas Woll on the other hand sadly doesn’t fare that well since her performance is just way over the top. Furthermore Vicky simply is the least sympathetic among them which makes her sometimes almost appear a bit out of place. Most of the other actors and actresses are equally convincing though I have to admit feeling a special sympathy for Martin Reinhold who’s great as the somewhat goofy outsider Dirk. As mentioned, the plot itself is not new at all but it contains enough hearty laughs, a nice soundtrack and several good performances by its young and talented cast that make Mädchen, Mädchen worthwhile. In addition the compact running time of little more than 80 minutes (without end credits) helps keeping things tight and avoids unnecessary scenes.
Nudity Report: Big-breasted blonde bombshell Diana Amft has a lengthy C-cup revealing sex-scene which is intercut with Felicitas Woll having sex wearing only a skirt and a bra. The very attractive Anke Schwiekowski shows her mini-boobs before and after having a shower while the deleted scenes feature a minimum amount of additional skin: Felicitas Woll provides serious nipple pokies before doing some non-revealing toplessness and Ulrike Kriener runs around in a well-filled bra for what seems like several minutes.
Critics: IMDB: 151 users have it at an arithmetic mean of 6.0 out of 10. Udo: 3/4. Pretty damn funny!
Versions: The German DVD contains several Deleted Scenes (see DVD description and Nudity Report)! DVD: Released on German DVD (region 2 encoded). Aspect Ratio(s): 1.85:1 (anamorphically enhanced, good quality). Sound: German in Dolby Digital 5.1 (German subtitles). Special Features: Introduction by director Dennis Gansel, Commentary by Gansel and actress Diana Amft, 8 Deleted Scenes with optional Commentary by Gansel, 8 Casting Sequences, Short Film on the making of Mädchen, Mädchen, Storyboards, Photogallery, Production Notes, Cast and Crew
Ratings: Mädchen, Mädchen is “ab 12” in Germany but would be either a hard “R” or even a “NC-17” in the US (for strong sexuality, graphic sexual dialogue, drug use, teen drinking and most notably for briefly showing an erected male penis on the cover of a porn-magazine).
Written by: Udo Baumann