NOBODY LOVES ME
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1996 James Berardinelli
RATING (0 TO 10): 8.5 Alternative Scale: ***1/2 out of ****
Germany, 1995 Running Length: 1:44 MPAA Classification: R (Sex, nudity, profanity) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Cast: Maria Schrader, Pierre Sanoussi-Bliss, Michael Von Au,
Elisabeth Trissenaar
Director: Doris Dorrie
Producers: Gerd Huber and Renate Seefeldt
Screenplay: Doris Dorrie
Cinematography: Helge Weindler
Music: Niki Reiser
U.S. Distributor: CFP Distribution Inc.
In German with subtitles
NOBODY LOVES ME is a charming, emotionally perceptive, German romantic comedy about the life of a woman who believes herself to be unloved and unlovable. About to enter her fourth decade of life, Fanny Fink (the delightful Maria Schrader, who resembles Mary Louise Parker) is convinced that "a woman over 30 is more likely to get hit by an A- bomb than find a man." Her daily mantra is: "I'm strong, I'm pretty, I'm intelligent. I love and I am loved," but she speaks the words without conviction. To potential suitors, she gives the advice, "I wouldn't fall in love with me if I were you." Talk about a self-esteem problem!
Although writer/director Doris Dorrie (STRAIGHT THROUGH THE HEART, MEN) has used a modern-day German woman to personify the angst and uncertainty associated with being single in the '90s, the fears and emotional upheaval suffered by Fanny are things that many people will be able to identify with, whether they're male or female, European or not, and young or old. Dorrie's perceptiveness when it comes to this mindset is what makes Fanny such an endearing character and causes the film to be so compelling.
NOBODY LOVES ME is not a romantic comedy in a traditional sense. It's more about learning to appreciate what you have rather than what you don't. Through the friendship of Orleo (the versatile Pierre Sanoussi-Bliss), a gay, black psychic, Fanny comes to understand the difference between seeing the glass half full and half empty. She may not have a lover, but, in Orleo's words, she has "a job, a family, a place, and the right skin color", none of which apply to him.
According to Orleo's prediction, Fanny will find her "last chance at love" in a blond, thirty-ish man who is somehow associated with the number 23. The likeliest candidate is the new manager of Fanny's run- down highrise apartment building, Lothar Sticker (a suitably vacuous Michael Von Au). Warned by Orleo that she must be aggressive, Fanny pursues him, but his interest in her is sporadic. By falling for a man who clearly doesn't reciprocate her feelings, Fanny learns the pain of unrequited love. In a moment of despair, she cries that she wishes she had remained emotionally sheltered.
However, through this misery, Fanny comes to love Orleo. As in CARRINGTON, where a heterosexual woman and a homosexual man develop an intense, platonic love, this pair becomes hopelessly emotionally entwined. Orleo is dying, however, and the nearness of his death adds an immediacy to their relationship that might not otherwise be present. Through this, Fanny learns a lesson about what real "love" is.
Despite the seriousness of some of the material, NOBODY LOVES ME is an uplifting motion picture, largely because of Dorrie's often self- deprecating style. Not only does she use humor to keep the film's tone light, but there's more than a sprinkling of magic realism. The death symbolism is overdone to the point of being comical. For a "conscious dying" class that she's taking, Fanny is making her own coffin. When her mother is aghast to see her sleeping in it, Fanny remarks that it's actually quite comfortable.
Dorrie has stated that the film reflects the prevalent aspects of the modern German character: isolation and an almost-obsessive tendency to wonder about death. I see these as more universal characteristics, however, and it's for that reason that NOBODY LOVES ME will likely connect with all audiences. Whether you see yourself in Fanny or Orleo, or just prefer to watch these two as characters in a well-told story, Dorrie's film is worth a trip to the theater.
- James Berardinelli e-mail: jberardinell@delphi.com, berardin@bc.cybernex.net web: http://www2.cybernex.net/~berardin
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