Mädchen Nr. 1

I saw this movie while on holiday in Germany recently. It has most of the elements that make movies popular - attractive principals, an amusing circle of friends and acquaintances on the fringe of the main action, a first-class villain, and a romantic, will-they won't-they? plot with lots of twists, surprises and suspense along the way.

Thomas Schmidt is an intellectually serious chemistry student (with more than a passing resemblance to Richard Ashcroft) who coaches Denise, a radiantly beautiful girl with a flashily handsome, but faithless and insufferably arrogant boyfriend. The film concerns itself with Thomas's sustained, ever-thwarted attempts to lure the lady from her hateful swain. In this attempt he is abetted by his housemates: a witty, if diminutive sidekick, with some of the qualities of the young Dustin Hoffman, a well-meaning, blundering giant of unpredictable temperament, and a tomboyish, grungy platonic female friend.

There's just one thing that stops this film reaching the large audience that would enjoy it so much: IT'S IN German! It's a great shame that the barrier of language should impede the career of this fresh, amusing film. Even if I didn't understand German fairly well, I'd have no problem with watching the film with subtitles, but I know this is a sore point with some people. Maybe we Anglophones should do what the Germans do with OUR movies, and dub it!

(I should point out, for the benefit of those who may have misunderstood this post, that the version I saw was German-language, without subtitles.)