Engel & Joe

Perhaps it's me, but I tend to tire of true stories. And Engel and Joe just happens to be one of them. The plot seems old and cliché. A sappy love story on how love always prevails. The film brings nothing new to the plate.

It had it's moments however, mostly attributed by the excellently crafted atmosphere. The films aesthetic values, particularly the cinematography and music, are what maintain any sense of interest.

Don't, however, attempt to avoid seeing this film. After all, no matter how many times we've heard it before, it seems like people never tire of stories from the heart.

First of all, this movie is cliche ridden like no other movie i've seen in recent times, second, the cinematography looks extremely (and i cannot overestimate that enough), how can i say, "made for tv", and that's a bad thing. Overall i couldn't enjoy it's good moments, because of the much too high quantity of their "ouch!"-counterparts.

I felt like having watched television after this movie.

Absolutely fantastic film, wonderful direction, absolutely ridiculously great soundtrack, and incredable acting, This film really shows love at its largest and really captures the essence of Colognes underground life, with young actors such as Pallaske and Stadlober the script could not of been better performed and these 2 seem to have a very bright and positive future in german film ahead of them! Wonderful! A must see for any German Speaker!

The runaway teenager Joe (Jana Pallaske) leaves her dysfunctional mother after being beat by her lover Harry. She meets Engel (Robert Stadlober) and his punk friends on the streets and the boy lodges her in the abandoned building where he lives. Engel tells her that he dreams on living in the mountains in a community of his own, raising animals and planting his own food, and they fall in love for each other. When Joe gets pregnant, Engel assumes the baby, but without a profession, the young couple faces serious financial difficulties and problems. When Engel gets addicted on drugs, he drags Joe to a low life including prostitution. But there is light in the mountain.

"Joe & Engel' is another dramatic screenplay of Kai Herman, the author of "Christiane F". The story is very realistic, bitter and sad, but the optimistic open conclusion relieves the tension and makes the movie more pleasant. The performances of the young Jana Pallaske and Robert Stadlober are stunning and deserved nominations to the Oscar; the absence of their names withdraws any credibility of the Oscar nominations in any credible list. This film is another great example of the excellent German cinema. I liked the cinematography, dark along the whole story, with a kind of symbolic fusion of their spirits when they make love in the swimming pool and with light when the couple reaches the mountains, transmitting a beautiful final message of hope and peace. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "A Nova Geração Christiane F" ("The New Generation Christiane F")

I saw this film at the Montreal festival back in 2001 and had great impressions from this fine example of today's German cinema. Youthful, dynamic, humane are few adjectives to be used for this very touching story of two young marginalized youths who go against all odds to survive physically and emotionally. The camera portrays the big city's underground culture and touches problems of today with directness and precision. Great naturalistic performances from promising young actors!