Die Unberührbare (2000)

Director:

Oskar Roehler

Writer:

Oskar Roehler (writer)

Release Date:

20 April 2000 (Germany)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Flanders, a famous female author, travels 1989 after the fall of the Berlin wall into the German capitol...

Plot Keywords:

Writer | German Reunification

Awards:

13 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

  (Credited cast)

Hannelore Elsner	...	Hanna Flanders
Vadim Glowna	...	Bruno
Jasmin Tabatabai	...	Meret
Lars Rudolph	...	Viktor
Michael Gwisdek	...	Joachim
Nina Petri	...	Grete
Tonio Arango	...	Ronald
Claudia Geisler	...	Carmen
Catherine H. Flemming	...	Isabelle (as Catherine Flemming)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Thomas Bading	...	Alfons (as Thomas Barding)
Gunda Ebert	...	Claudi
Hansjürgen Frintrop	...	Verlagsangestellte
Michael Gaißmayer	...	Unscheid
Helga Göring	...	Hanna's Mother
Christine Harbort	...	Irene
Harry Hass	...	Rezeptionist
Mik Hofbauer	...	Barkeeper
Gerry Jochum	...	Betrunkener Mann
Christian Viktor Keune	...	Kneipier
Faroque Khan	...	Ägypter
Leo Leopoldt	...	Kellner
Charles Régnier	...	Hanna's Father
Norman Schenk	...	Horst
Reinhard Scheunemann	...	Dietmar
René Schönenberger	...	Arzt (as René Schoenenberger)
Sanja Spengler	...	Sekretärin
Ralph Steiger	...	Möbelpacker
Birgit Stein	...	Inhaberin
Frieder Steinich	...	Schwarzer Sheriff
Bernd Stempel	...	Dieter
Norbert Tefelski	...	Verlagsangestellte
Wolfgang Wimmer	...	Inhaber
Martin Wuttke	...	Imbissverkäufer
Marie Zielcke	...	Nurse

Also Known As:

No Place to Go (International: English title)
Umnachtung (Germany) (working title)

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

France:U | Germany:12 (w) | Hong Kong:III | Netherlands:12 | Sweden:11

Filming Locations:

Berlin, Germany

Company:

Distant Dreams Filmproduktion

Trivia:

The character "Hanna Flanders" is based on the life of German author Gisela Elsner, Oskar Roehler's real life mother, who committed suicide in 1992.

A disappointment

I missed this movie when it appeared, and I saw it just lately, because I read some very enthusiastic reviews on it and, living in Germany, I think one has to cope also to the local cinematographic up-to-date situation. Well, I felt disappointed. I mean, I agree with the main point of the reviews, that is to say the extraordinary performance of Hannelore Elsner as the main character, a leninistic writer, smoke- and sleeping pills-addicted, who just after the fall of the wall decides to leave the capitalistic Federal Republic of Germany and to move to the socialistic East Berlin. But, of course, the wall is fallen and she cannot find herself anymore also in her dreamed on world. I am afraid that the main trouble with this movie is the uncapability to create a really living character, notwithstanding Mrs. Elsner's efforts, and the complete unconsistency of the secondary characters (like her boyfriend, or her son, or her former lover). Besides, the screenplay has too many holes (for instance, at the beginning she has all her furniture removed from her house in Munich, because she is leaving: but where is she sending them?): I mean, we must not know any particular of the life of any character (for instance, Bresson did not care at all about it...), but it is difficult to sympathize with a character who only speaks with slogans. And what about her outfits? What are they here for, just to present the woman as a relict from the 68-ers revolt (with a Christian Dior overcoat...)? Or was she a novel Norma Desmond wandering in her delirium? In that case, a more baroque scenery should have been more suitable. And, last but not least, the cinematography has annoyed me: I love black and white, but in this case it was that kind of arty black and white which reminds me more of some Madonna videoclips than of movie classics. So, I'm beginning to understand why German movies very seldom are exported...