Maybe... Maybe Not (1994)

Thrown out by his girlfriend from her apartment, Axel lives for a while with Norbert, a gay man he met some days before.

Director:

Sönke Wortmann

Writers:

Sönke Wortmann (screenplay), Ralf König (comics "Der bewegte Mann" and "Pretty Baby")

Stars:

Til Schweiger, Katja Riemann, Joachim Król

10 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Til Schweiger	...	Axel Feldheim
Joachim Król	...	Norbert Brommer
Katja Riemann	...	Doro Feldheim
Rufus Beck	...	Waltraud
Armin Rohde	...	Metzger
Nico van der Knaap	...	Fränzchen
Antonia Lang	...	Elke Schmitt
Martina Gedeck	...	Jutta
Judith Reinartz	...	Claudia
Kai Wiesinger	...	Aufreißer
Horst D. Scheel	...	Günter
Christof Wackernagel	...	Rüdiger
Martin Armknecht	...	Lutz
Heinrich Schafmeister	...	Klaus Dieter
Helmut Buchel	...	Dirk (as Helmut Büchel)

Storyline

The handsome young Axel is always on the hunt for women although he already has a girlfriend named Doro. One day Doro catches Axel in the act with another woman. She ends their relationship and throws him out of her apartment. Seeking a new home, Axel is introduced to Walter, a homosexual, who finds Axel quite attractive. Walter takes Axel to a gay party where they meet Norbert, who has a big apartment and is more than willing to let Axel stay for a while because he thinks he can seduce him. Meanwhile, Doro finds out that she is pregnant with Axel's child and now she tries to get him back, not knowing that he lives among homosexuals. This makes for a lot of funny incidents between the gay world and the straight world. But will Doro get Axel back or will he stay with Norbert instead?

---

Plot Keywords:

gay | homosexual | male in shower | male nudity | male objectification | 

---

Genres:

Comedy

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexuality and language, including some explicit sexual dialogue

Details

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Release Date:

12 July 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

Maybe... Maybe Not

Filming Locations:

Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Box Office

Gross USA:

$468,930

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$468,930

Company Credits

Production Co:

Constantin Film, Olga Film, Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR Dolby

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Based on the books "Der Bewegte Mann" and "Pretty Baby", written by cartoonist Ralf König, who appears as a drag-queen.

---

Quotes

Doro Feldheim: [after hanged up the phone hearing a male voice] That was a man!
Jutta: So, in addition she's married.
Doro Feldheim: [hysterical] That was a homosexual guy!

---

Connections

References Death in Venice (1971)

---

Soundtracks

Schöner Gigolo
Music by Leonello Casucci
Lyrics by Julius Brammer
Performed by Palast Orchester featuring Max Raabe

User Reviews

Laugh out loud? I did indeed.

I saw this film in Germany when it came out as I was living there at the time. It was one of the funniest films I ever saw. Some years later I got a subtitled copy back in England and was shocked at how unfunny it was when translated. Which goes to show that humour often only works in the language it was created in.

That said, it is still a very unstylised view of culture clashes and a study of how far people are prepared to go when they aren't getting any sex. No one gets what they want by the end: the gay man doesn't get his straight friend; the straight man doesn't get his free-love lifestyle; the straight woman doesn't get her angry singledom.

I guess the moral is that you can take the human out of their sexuality, but you can't take the sexuality out of the human. Trite, but it reflects the title of the film, referring to a proverbial fish out of water.