Stratosphere Girl (2004)

Director:

Matthias X. Oberg

Writer:

Matthias X. Oberg (writer)

Release Date:

9 September 2004 (Germany)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery

Plot Keywords:

D.J. | Hostess | Night Life | Teenage Girl | Bar

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Chloé Winkel	...	Angela
Jon Yang	...	Yamamoto
Rebecca R. Palmer	...	Rachel (as Rebecca Palmer)
Tuva Novotny	...	Monika
Tara Elders	...	Polly
Linda Steinhoff	...	Ella
Filip Peeters	...	Kruilman
Togo Igawa	...	Oshima
Peggy Jane de Schepper	...	Larissa
Alan Westaway	...	Scotty
Burt Kwouk	...	Papa-San
Mette Louise Holland	...	Ingrid (as Mette-Louise Holland)
Monika Strzelczyk	...	Tanya
Oona Spengler	...	Russian Girl
Akemi Otani	...	Mama-San

Also Known As:

The Stratosphere Girl (USA) (DVD box title)

Runtime:

Netherlands:90 min | Japan:81 min

Country:

Netherlands | Germany | Italy | Switzerland | UK

Language:

English | Dutch | Japanese

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:M | Singapore:M18 | South Korea:15 | Germany:16 | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Cologne, North Rhine - Westphalia, Germany

Company:

Clubdeal

Quotes:

Businessman 2: Is it true, you're just sixteen?
Angela: No, I'm fifteen.

Soundtrack:

Like A Virgin

Foreign Cartoonist in Japan

Well, it's actually not a movie about a foreign cartoonist in Japan.

I watched this movie during JIFFEST 2004 (Jakarta Int'l Film Festival). A foreign girl left her country for Japan, hoping to find a new life. Back in her city, she had a Japanese boyfriend. He often told stories about Japan, and it made her interested. This girl loved to draw anything, especially things that happened around her, into panels. So it's very close to a comic.

In Japan, I forgot what city, she shared an apartment with other foreign girls. Most (if not all) work in a nightclub. She also worked in the same club, for a living. While she's there, she drew many scenes based on what happened around her. And then something terrible happened...and she made her own investigation...and drew her findings/ imagination/ etc into papers.

What I love about Stratosphere Girl is the ability to portrait a very nice-looking innocent girl, with a very imaginative mind, into a world of deception, crime, illegal foreign workers life in Japan. She followed her instincts to follow the mystery, although it would endanger her life.

The cinematography was very good, and I really like the way it shot night-life in Japan. Her drawings (I don't know if it's actually her drawing, or the director have it for her) were very beautiful, only using colored pencils (if I'm not mistaken). I wished those drawings were available commercially as a comic book.

This movie could fall into a thriller category, not just drama. I wished the director could made this movie more thrilling. But this is not a Hollywood movie=), but the director thrilled us in a different way.