Bandits

Plot

Katja von Garnier (Making Up!) made her feature directorial debut with this German musical comedy-drama about the Bandits, a quartet of female prisoners who rely on music to escape their surroundings. Then they escape for real. During a policeman's ball, they make a getaway and head north to get a hidden cash stash and ship out to South America. Along the way, they take an American hostage and give impromptu concerts. The group skyrockets to fame and cult celebrity status due to the continual airing of their tunes on the radio while they flee the police. Shown at the 1997 Toronto and German film festivals. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

Review

A band of female mavericks celebrates the simultaneous pleasures of escape and renown in this feature-length, fictional rockumentary by Katja von Garnier. Their flight from prison and the widespread popular success of their band ensures hot pursuit for the "Bandits," whose unremarkable singles are more titillating as prison artifacts than as rock. Action shots and car chases abound, and von Garnier rarely misses a chance to exploit the drama of highways, bridges, or rooftops as sites for music videos. The four women play pranks on the police, confront their images everywhere, play gigs off the beaten path, and get the better of a sleazy producer, all with infectious energy and zeal. Yet despite their semblance of recklessness and abandon, the characters are increasingly -- and predictably -- constrained by their notoriety. Far from a critique of the prison system or the treatment of inmates, this film presents its characters as immature, endearing semi-delinquents incapable of sustaining a life outside the penitentiary. (#Bandits) takes a large part of its allure from the erotic subtext of the chase and a sexualized view of the female prisoner and her capture. Without examining these points, von Garnier manages to create an energetic, if not quite inspiring, film. ~ Tiffany DeVos, Rovi

Cast

• Katja Riemann - Emma Moor
• Jasmin Tabatabai - Luna
• Nicolette Krebitz - Angel
• Jutta Hoffmann - Marie
• Hannes Jaenicke - Inspector Schwarz

Werner Schreyer - West; Peter Sattmann - Gold; Andrea Sawatzki - Ludwig; Oliver Hasenfratz - Schneider

Credit

Susann Bieling - Art Director, Sabine Schroth - Casting, Claudia Bobsin - Costume Designer, Sebastian Fahr - First Assistant Director, Katja von Garnier - Director, Hans Funck - Editor, Udo Arndt - Composer (Music Score), Volker Grippenstroh - Composer (Music Score), Peter Weihe - Composer (Music Score), Torsten Breuer - Cinematographer, Harry Kuegler - Producer, Elvira Senft - Producer, Molly von Fuerstenberg - Producer, Harald Kügler - Producer, Michael Hinreier - Sound/Sound Designer, Uwe Wilhelm - Screenwriter, Katja von Garnier - Screenwriter

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