A Woman in Flames (1983)
"Die flambierte Frau" (original title)

Eva, an upper-class housewife, frustratedly leaves her arrogant husband and decides to enter the call girl business. She lets Yvonne, a prostitute, teach her the basics and both set out for... See full summary »

Director:

Robert van Ackeren

Writers:

Robert van Ackeren (screenplay), Catharina Zwerenz (screenplay)

Stars:

Gudrun Landgrebe, Mathieu Carrière, Hanns Zischler

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gudrun Landgrebe	...	Eva
Mathieu Carrière	...	Chris
Hanns Zischler	...	Kurt
Gabriele Lafari	...	Yvonne
Walther Busch
Matthias Fuchs	...	Markus
Ute Gerhard
Johannes Grützke
Klaus Hoser
Christiane Horn
Klaus Mikoleit	...	Kunde mit Schürze
Magdalena Montezuma
Carola Regnier
Achim Ruppel	...	(as Achim E. Ruppel)
René Schönenberger

Storyline

Eva, an upper-class housewife, frustratedly leaves her arrogant husband and decides to enter the call girl business. She lets Yvonne, a prostitute, teach her the basics and both set out for prey together, until Eva starts an affair with Chris, who turns out to be a call boy, as well. Consequently, she moves into his penthouse, large enough for both to offer their services separately.

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Plot Keywords:

call girl | homosexual | dominatrix | human relationship | male prostitute | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

West Germany

Language:

German

Release Date:

10 June 1983 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

A Woman in Flames

Filming Locations:

Berlin, Germany

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dieter Geissler Filmproduktion, Robert van Ackeren Filmproduktion

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

User Reviews

Pretty Woman

‭When this movie came out it was all over town, the "sinfulest" movie around: I would have given an arm and a leg to have seen it at the cinema, but I was too young for it then.

‭Decades later, I have just seen it for the first time, and to my delight it lived up to its reputation (unlike so many other movies). It turned out to be well worth the wait! This is one hell of a smart, erotic, intriguing, well-told movie. It's one of the best of its genre, one of the most memorable movies of the Eighties, and one of the classiest to have come out of Germany. It remains shocking and edgy until today, and was like a cultural bomb in its time when, years before the internet, homosexuality and sadomasochism were still very much on the cultural dark side of the moon.

‭Unlike many other movies dealing with prostitution (American Gigolo and Pretty Woman come to mind) it doesn't sugar-coat the business, although it's still pretty glamorous and probably a far sight from being documentarian. There is a synthetic, hypnotic atmosphere throughout, enhanced by the dubbed soundtrack (which is often detrimental to the atmosphere in other movies). The figures are well-defined but remain intriguing through their ambivalence -- main character Eva (Gudrun Landgrebe) is at the same time enticing and revolting, her gigolo-friend Chris (Matthieu Carrière) slick and vulnerable.

‭Only the final scene, it has to be said, is a bit of a letdown. I don't know what the director was thinking here -- maybe he was trying to avoid an X rating for "excessive violence" or something.