The Fan (1982)

The hero-worship that Simone has for a pop singer is built to a crescendo until she passes out when she finally sees him up-close in a crowd of fans pushing him for autographs. She is later... See full summary »

Director:

Eckhart Schmidt

Writer:

Eckhart Schmidt

Stars:

Désirée Nosbusch, Bodo Steiger, Simone Brahmann

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Désirée Nosbusch	...	Simone
Bodo Steiger	...	R / Pop singer
Simone Brahmann	...	R Sekretärin / R's secretary
Jonas Vischer	...	Vater / Simone's Father
Helga Tölle	...	Mutter / Simone's Mother
Klaus Münster	...	Briefträger / postman
Ian Moorse	...	Rs Freund / R's friend
Wilfried Blasberg	...	Mann mit Hund / Man with dog
Sabine Kueckelmann	...	B
Claudia Schumann	...	Mädchen
Nikolai Hoffmann	...	Manager
Michael Fluehme	...	Promotion-Mann
Oliver Betz	...	Popper
Doro Hilzinger	...	Mädchen / girl
Joachim Fuchsberger	...	Mann im Fernsehen / Man on TV

Storyline

The hero-worship that Simone has for a pop singer is built to a crescendo until she passes out when she finally sees him up-close in a crowd of fans pushing him for autographs. She is later shocked when he lets her know that he does not love her. In an instant, she is caught "in a trance" and feels a murderous urge that is bigger than the both of them.

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Plot Keywords:

fan | pop singer | teenage girl cannibal | cannibalism | singer | 

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Taglines:

Er ist ein Star - sie erst 17 - Liebe in Trance ...

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Genres:

Drama | Horror | Music | Romance

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

West Germany

Language:

German

Release Date:

6 June 1982 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Fan

Filming Locations:

FSM, Unterföhring, Bavaria, Germany

Company Credits

Production Co:

Barbara Moorse Workshop

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In her contract, popular German TV moderator Désirée Nosbusch agreed to shoot the nude scenes together with 'Bodo Staiger'. After stills from those scenes were published during the marketing campaign of the film, she tried to stop the release. After a long trial that caused a scandal in German press, she finally lost and the film was released in the original version by director Eckhart Schmidt. Schmidt and Nosbusch reconciled their struggle years after that and became friends again.

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Alternate Versions

The UK DVD, released by Oracle, had 15 seconds cut by the BBFC; to remove R's (Bodo Steiger) mouth passing across the groin of Désirée Nosbusch (Simone).

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Connections

Featured in Eine Kannibalistische Lovestory (2014)

User Reviews

Kraftwerk Kills!

"Der Fan" is a bone chilling and thought-provoking film about teenage obsession and the gradual descent into social isolation, despair and slow brooding insanity. Simone is a pretty young girl whose entire universe spins around a pop-singer named "R". She talks to him in her mind, fantasizes about their utopist future together, eagerly awaits letters that never come and completely neglects her school work and social life in favor of dreams about him. Simone eventually takes the initiative abandon everything without notice and hitchhikes to Munich in order to meet him at a concert. She finds her beloved "R" and, for a brief period of time, all her dreams come true as he fancies her, albeit guarding a haughty distance. But, of course, now that she finally found him, Simone isn't prepared to share her lover with the rest of the world anymore … "Der Fan" is an unimaginably slow-paced film and – please – don't immediately start to question it's cult reputation upon noticing absolutely nothing significant happens during what appears to be the entire film. Believe you me; it's all just patient and awkwardly uncomfortable building up towards one of the most shocking and revolting climaxes ever. This was an incredibly controversial release back in its home country Germany, and it's not too hard to see why. Without revealing too much about the infamous denouement, I can safely say this girl Simone single-handedly gives a whole new dimension to the term "obsessive groupie". Désirée Nosbusch gives away a hugely impressive performance as Simone and undeniably the other biggest strong point of the film – apart from the ending of course – is Rheingold's prototypic 80's electro pop music. If you're familiar with the oeuvre the relatively known 80's band Kraftwork ("The Model", "Autobahn", "Radioactivity"), you know pretty much what to expect. "Der Fan" isn't a movie for all tastes but certainly a curious collector's item for the more avid and open-minded cult fanatic to seek out.