Combat Girls
| Combat Girls | |
|---|---|
 Promotional poster | |
| Directed by | David Wnendt[1] |
| Written by | David Wnendt |
| Produced by | Eva-Marie Martens |
| Starring | Alina Levshin Jella Haase |
| Cinematography | Jonas Schmager |
| Edited by | Andreas Wodraschke |
| Music by | Johannes Repka[2] |
| Distributed by | Ascot Elite EastWest Distribution |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 103 minutes |
| Country | Germany |
| Language | German |
Combat Girls (original title is Kriegerin, the German term for a female warrior) is a 2011 German drama film written and directed by David Wnendt. It had its international premiere at the 2011 São Paulo International Film Festival where Alina Levshin was awarded as best actress.[3][4][5] It won the best screenplay and best female lead categories and came third in the best film category at the German Film Awards (Deutscher Filmpreis) in 2012.[6]
Plot
The film begins showing Marisa (Alina Levshin) dying on a cold shore somewhere in Germany. She and her friend Svenja (Jella Haase), who is with her, remember how it came to this. The film follows the journey of the two girls as they move into and out of a neonazi group.
As a little girl Marisa is taught by her grandfather (Klaus Manchen) how to carry a heavy sandsack. Only when she meets his expectations he gives his "combat girl" a loving hug. She has no clue her beloved grandfather used to harass and even beat Marisa's mother for being pregnant.
The twenty-year-old Marisa still lives in the same town and cherishes her grandpa. She visits him regularly in hospital where he lies ill, soon dying. Yet at the weekends she meets with her gang of violent nazis xenophobic lower class kids. She and her boyfriend Sandro (Gerdy Zint) who violently attacks ethnic looking passengers on a tram and moreover attack a conductor. After that police raids her house while she is watering her Grandpa's flowers. Both she and Sandro are arrested and Sandro consequently has to go to prison.
Meanwhile it is made clear that Svenja's stepfather is incredibly strict on her, which she rebels against. She meets a 19-year-old boy who works for her family in their garden and they start hanging out. He turns out to be friends with Marisa and a neonazi like her. Svenja is very intrigued by the violent, partying, in-the-moment life-style these young nazis live and slowly becomes more involved.
However Sandro is eventually about to be released. Marisa's mother (Rosa Enskat) cannot stand the thought of Sandro moving in with her daughter while Marisa even wants to have a child with him. Mother and daughter have a dispute over that matter in the local grocery shop. Marisa is the till girl of that shop. After her fight with her mother two young immigrants (Sayed Ahmad Wasil Mrowat as Rasul and Najebullah "Najeb" Ahmadi as Jamil) become the target of her bad mood. She refuses them as customers.[7]
Later Marisa and her gang enjoy themselves at the shore. They consume a lot of alcohol and chant aggressive slogans about Marisa's two former customers, who happen to be there as well, however they stand their ground. Rasul and Jamil come around and are chased off the shore. The appalled Rasul breaks the side mirror of Marisa's car as he parts. Marisa runs to her car and follows them when they try to escape on Jamil's scooter. She uses her car as a weapon, rams them, pushing them of the road at high speed. Then she commits hit-and-run. Back with her friends she attempts to drown her qualms in alcohol. At this point Svenja and her new friend has also shown up at the beach.
When Marisa sees Rasul again at her workplace, he is short of money. Even so she lets him do his shopping after all. But Rasul's situation exacerbates. As a result of the accident his brother Jamal's papers have been checked officially and he is deported. As a result, Rasul is supposed to live in an orphanage. He eludes his custodians and is caught red-handed during shoplifting. Marisa gets violent against her own mother just to free Rasul before she follows him to his hiding place where he offers her a drink.
Sandro leaves prison and Marisa picks him up and complies with his wish to visit a neo-nazi party where Sandro buys the pistol of an old Austrian nazi. He frightens off another young man called Markus (Lukas Steltner) who sells drugs at the party. But little later Markus blindsides Sandro with some accomplices. Sandro receives a heavy trashing. He attempts to restore his self-confidence by forcing himself on Marisa. Afterwards he also threatens a number of immigrants with his pistol and beats up Rasul when he sees him in front of Marisa's House where Marisa invited.
Marisa decides to help Rasul to get to the country of his dreams, Sweden, and accompany him. His uncle lives in Sweden. She also decides that her friend Svenja (Jella Haase) shall come with them because she recently ran away from home with a large sum of money. She uses a baseball bat on Sandro who opposes her plan to get away from him and take revenge. But Sandro catches up when they reach Rügen because Svenja calls him and asks him to pick her up. Instead he comes over and shoots Marisa dead minutes after Rasul leaves by sea.
Cast
- Alina Levshin: Marisa
- Jella Haase: Svenja
- Sayed Ahmad Wasil Mrowat: Rasul
- Gerdy Zint: Sandro
- Lukas Steltner: Markus
- Uwe Preuss: Oliver, Svenja's step-father
- Winnie Böwe: Andrea, Svenja's mother
- Rosa Enskat: Bea, Marisa's mother
- Haymon Maria Buttinger: Clemens, the Austrian
- Klaus Manchen: Grandpa (Franz)
See also
References
- ^ "Kriegerin is a forcible directorial debut from Berlin-born film graduate David Wnendt". Retrieved 2012-05-06.
- ^ "COMPOSER Johannes Repka". Retrieved 2012-05-06.
- ^ "Awards: Förderpreis Deutscher Film Best Screenplay & Best Leading Actress Munich 2011, First Steps Award 2011, Best Actress Sao Paulo 2011..." Retrieved 2012-05-06.
- ^ "São Paulo International Film Festival: Awards for 2011". Retrieved 2012-05-06.
- ^ "Melhor Atriz: ALINA LEVSHIN, por COMBAT GIRLS (Alemanha)". Retrieved 2012-05-06.
- ^ Deutsche Filmpreise von 1951 bis heute, Deutsche Filmakademie. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
- ^ "She refuses to serve two Afghani aliens at the supermarket where she works and then later runs them off the road in her car". Retrieved 2012-05-06.
External links
- Combat Girls at IMDb
- International Homepage
- Goethe-Institut on "Kriegerin"
- Trailer with English subtitles on YouTube
- Review (Atlanta Jewish Film Festival)
- Teaching material for German lessons including a very detailed complete description of the plot which is -besides the film itself - the reference of the plot description above. (German)