Hotte im Paradies (2002 TV Movie) User Reviews

Short plot outline and comment (pretty much spoilerfree)

[kackebittehier · 8/10 · 16 September 2004]

Everything is going the right way for entry-level pimp Hotte. With Jenny, it seems to him that he found just the right girl to make money with, to get rid of that scabby old BMW and to make sure "things never get boring". But in redlight business, you never know the end of the road before walking it down to the end...

While overly romanticising at times, Hotte I'm Paradies still gives one of the deepest and most authentic insights into what living as a pimp might be like, at least of the few movies known to me. Misel Maticevic plays the protagonist part quite believable, especially the way he treats his ladies seems very convincing. The camera-work may seem amateur like at first, but it all adds up to the authenticity quite much in its Dogma-like appeal, so that in the end you find yourself so much closer to the characters than any cool, polished footage could have got you. But not all is as dirty and realistic as the camerastyle, the costumes and the Berlin dialect suggest - as I said, the movie ends up romanticising the whole business quite a bit. Hotte stays a bit of a very-golden-hearted gangster figure at times, which for me puts the few examples of brutal violence we see in the movie a little too far into the "exception from the rule" category than it is believable.

But that's only a minor weakness of a great movie, 8 out of 10 from my side!

Paradise in Hell

[kosmasp · 8/10 · 18 June 2020]

Or is it the other way around? One man's paradise can be a womans nightmare for sure of course. Or multiple men/women that is. Having the movie play in the prostitution business it might trigger some people or rub them the wrong way that's for certain.

Now depending on your sensibilities you might have some preconceptions. Cliches can be found here, on the other hand the actors on hand do a fantastic job (no pun intended). If you don't want to get into the gutter, into a certain exploitative human depth, the movie is not for you. But exploiting people and making them earning money for you, is just one side. Humans can be complicated .. and can also get attached to others. For better or worse ... Getting full of yourself because you seem to be getting quite a lot of money ... Pimpin - big style. But also succesful? And where are the morals/morality? Not always easy to spot ...

Another example for the Graf phenomenon

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 18 February 2016]

"Hotte im Paradies" is a German 2-hour television film from almost 15 years ago. It was directed by Dominik Graf and written by Rolf Basedow, a longtime collaborator of Graf. Dominik Graf is considered one of Germany's finest filmmakers right now and that truly baffles me. I have seen several of his works, including "Die geliebten Schwestern" the film that Germany submitted unsuccessfully to the Oscars last year and I must say he is absolutely overrated, at least judging from what I have seen and that is quite a bit.

The only reason I can somewhat mention why one should watch "Hotte im Paradies" is Misel Maticevic's lead performance, apart from the solid use of songs. He is a talented actor and elevates the material a lot here. Noeither the direction nor the script are really memorable. The latter is actually pretty confusing and includes a lot of pointless scenes. This film should have run 100 minutes max in my opinion. The characters other than the main character add little to the story and almost all seem interchangeable, no matter if they are gangsters or whores. Saying a film has no likable characters is not a valid criticism, even if it is true here, but saying these unlikeable characters are not elaborated on convincingly is a very valid criticism.

I am baffled by this film's success with awards bodies as well as with audiences. Looking at the IMDb rating, it is apparently very well liked. And this applies to several other of Graf's works. He is always showy, always tries to be very controversial and does not shy away from graphic violence in order to achieve that. However, most of the time the attempt stays unsuccessful and this is true here as well. It all only feels included for the sake of it and not as reality happening, even if it may be crass reality. The dialogue writing is not good either, sometimes cringeworthy. I do not recommend "Hotte in Paradise". Watch something else instead.