The Girl Rosemarie (1996 TV Movie) User Reviews

Fascinating period piece about a doomed courtesan

[amedusa50x · 10/10 · 21 November 2008]

Terrific acting by all of the principal players, especially Hoss as the "bad girl" Rosemarie, whose heartbreak is no less real for the fact that she's a high-priced prostitute. An intelligent, compassionate, forthright film about the Wages of Sin and about the fact that those wages are often paid threefold by women with no economic power or social status who remain at the bottom of the heap while the elite pay next to nothing for the indulgence of their vices and snicker all the way to the bank. Sounds like an old theme, and it is, but this film puts a fresh face on it, with a sharp-tongued screenplay and lots of great 1950s clothing and decor.

If you liked the intense British film "Dance with a Stranger," you'll probably like "A Girl Called Rosemarie." Both films are about feisty, doomed women who fall in love with the wrong men and suffer deeply for it. Various arias and symphonic excerpts from the Verdi opera "La Traviata" (about a doomed courtesan) are used to excellent effect in the soundtrack of "A Girl Called Rosemarie." The spoken German is crisp and enjoyable, and the English subtitles are clear and unobtrusive. Enjoy!

Pompously forgettable, the epitome of an Eichinger movie

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 20 May 2017]

"Das Mädchen Rosemarie" or "A Girl Called Rosemary" or "The Girl Rosemarie" is a German movie from 1996, so this one had its 20th anniversary last year. It is one of the rare occasions where prolific German producer Bernd Eichinger was not only the writer, but even the director of a film. The cast includes as always with Eichinger many many big names, such as Heiner Lauterbach, Til Schweiger, Katja Flint, Mathieu Carrière, Hanns Zischler or Hannelore Elsner. Eichinger films are really more like events I must say that great creative achievements and this one here is definitely not an exception. The title character is played by a certain Nina Hoss, who was around the age of 20 when this was made and it was her big breakthrough film. I personally think, however, that almost everything she made later in her career is most likely superior to this one we have here. It is about the German prostitute Rosemarie Nitribitt who not only really existed , but had video tapes of very influential German men from business, politic etc. being her customers. We are talking career-breaking stuff here. So it is no surprise than she died under dubious circumstances in her mid-20s and this case never got solved in terms of who finally pulled the trigger on her.

But back to this film: It is a small screen production, but that's not a problem if the quality had been better here. The cast sure offers the possibility of a really convincing movie even if Hoss certainly wasn't at her best yet and the cast includes also actors who are more known for their charisma than for their range. Still, the story is good enough to be turned into something special. The opposite is the case. It feels like a movie that is as pompous as empty during its massive over two hours runtime during which it drags quite a bit. What a disappointment. It is very much obvious how they were trying to make waves with this film, but they came oh so short. I very much prefer the much older version of the Nitribitt life and tragedy starring Nadja Tiller as the main character and Mario Adorf plays a character in there too. Thinking about it, he would have fit in here as well and I say that with the greatest respect for Mr. Adorf as he could have been somebody who may have elevated the material here. The way it turned out instead eventually this film was as bland as it was forgettable. Visually, it isn't bad and basically full of gold. A golden wrapping with empty contents seems a fitting description. None of it is real sadly. Not a great character study or a great study of the German society of the 1950s. I suggest you watch something else instead.

A piece of German post-war history

[tpeel · 10/10 · 9 March 2013]

The film is based on a true story. The film does not show how the story ended, but Rosemarie Nitribitt was murdered in 1957. The killer was never identified, and there were theories of a cover-up in highest places.

The film itself captures the atmosphere of post-war Germany, materialistic, repressive, hypocritical, conservative. The sensitive use of camera and lighting manages to capture the contrast between an extreme Technicolor effect in some scenes and the gloomy street scenes in others. Heiner Lauterbach is the wealthy businessman who falls for the streetwise Rosemarie played by Nina Hoss, Til Schweiger plays the pimp Nadler.