Eight Miles High (2008)

the audience applauded

Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Saw this on Netflix streaming movies. Much of the movie is in German with English subtitles, but some of it is in English.Uschi Obermaier was (is?) apparently a real person who joined in with what we would call the hippie free-love movement in 1960s Germany. But she was also a model and a very successful one. Much of her modeling was nude or semi-nude, graphically depicted in the film, and the actress certainly has a Playboy-worthy beauty.German actress Natalia Avelon plays Uschi Obermaier . While she is the central character her life and travels take her many places and with many famous people. The beginning and the end of the film are the same, she is standing nude on the beach, watching a raft burn, symbolic of her relationships that had died and the men with them. In between is her story.The critic Ebert has a very good and accurate review. Interesting film, but I lived through the 1960s and 1970s, I remember those days, and watching this one didn't do much for me.

I will catch this film when it plays here in Chicago in August. I was in Kommune 1 for a couple of weeks in March of 1969. There were two residences - Rainer Langhans, Uschi Obermaier, Dieter Kunzelmann stayed in the larger of the two, a factory loft sort of place. I stayed in the other residence, a dozen or so people in one large room. I went there with a friend from Frankfurt who wanted to reconcile with his girlfriend, who had left him for Dieter Kunzelmann. His girlfriend was unreceptive and he split right away. I was welcome to stay on for a while and did. It was easy living. Everyone was nice, except grouchy Dieter. No star attitudes or pretensions. Both Rainer and Uschi were very grounded, not at all affected by their notoriety. I think that set the tone. I'll give this film a 10 just on its subject matter.

This is probably the worst of all the terrible German movies I had to watch over the years. If there was an award for stupidity the movie would definitely get it. I don't want even to mention the terrible acting, the cheap set design, the pointless "story" or the idiotic dialog and the overall horrible look which are nowadays standard for German films. What's really bothering is that for some reason the creators seem not to have the slightest idea what the "Kommune" and the whole 68 movement were about, what they wanted and what they did. The movie deals with childish clichés - the scene when Uschi and Rainer meet the Rolling - Stones is so exquisitely ridiculous that you will have trouble to believe your eyes - even if this is somehow true for the whole movie. If Uschi has really coauthored this we're all asking us if he had so many drugs during the time that she probably did not even get what was going on. Otherwise: How could this possibly happen?

Well, I always thought that Germany can't do great movies, but now I know it can! I was surprised that it was so unbelievable good! The story of Uschi Obermaier was filmed excellent. The movie shows the audience the height and depths of Obermaier's life. And to be true, I love Natalia Avelon. She looks like Uschi Obermaier and I think that she is the perfect actress for that role. Her hair style is almost the same (in the movie). I had watched the movie with a friend and she thought it is too sexual she didn't like it, but I did! OK, it would be better if Keith Richards would be played by a English actor but it is okay. I think it is also good that there are parts which are just spoken in English. I love English so I really enjoyed it. The film locations are perfect. I am overwhelmed by that bus in which they drive through the world in six years. Now the acting: Brilliant! Natalia is sexy, what she has to be in that kind of movie. She acts so amazing. She can play funny scenes but also serious ones. Especially in the scene where she looses her baby or where her husband dies she shows us that she can also play sad movies. The music is excellent. I love that song "Summer Wine". Natalia Avelon sings that song herself! Well, I can only say that everybody who likes hot women and excellent movies should go in it.10 of 10 stars!