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Axolotl Overkill

16 year old Mifti moves in with her older half siblings in Berlin after her mother passes away and gets sucked into big city life. AXOLOTL OVERKILL is an adaptation of Helene Hegemann’s hotly debated debut novel.

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In 2010, 16 year old Helene Hegemann wrote her debut novel Axolotl Roadkill, a postmodern collage of interior monologues, text messages, and narrations broken up by the impressions of the first-person narrator. The feuilletons celebrated the book for its ferocity, but soon after the author was in the pillory due to plagiarism accusations because she took online content and copy-pasted them. At the same time Hegemann excited viewers with her 40 minute TORPEDO which won the Max-Ophüls prize for best mid-length film.

Hegemann is now bringing her debut to the cinema. The eponymous Axolotl is a salamander that remains in the larval stage until it’s sexually mature and is a metaphor for 16 year old Mifti (Jasna Fritzi Bauer). She lives with her older half-siblings in Berlin after her mother’s death and gets sucked into big city life. Instead of going to school, the gruff teen goes to clubs with her best friend Ophelia, takes drugs, and has wild sexual encounters, like with the older Alice. AXOLOTL OVERKILL is a loose portrait of an impulsive teenager who is searching for emotional stability and her place in the world. The meandering plot turns into a stream of consciousness snap shots, like when a penguin suddenly waddles into Mifti’s room. The soundtrack filled with soul, punk, and techno tracks lends the film some drive as does the expressive images of cinematographer Manuel Dacosse, who won the prize for best camera in Sundance. However, the feeling that Mifti’s vaguely sketched out downward spiral isn’t quite enough material to film a 90 minute film persists. 27 year old Jasna Fritzi Bauer does give the headstrong protagonist a certain amiability that helps one follow the loose threads.

Christian Horn

Translation: Elinor Lewy

Credits

Deutschland 2017, 94 min
Genre: Drama, Comedy, Literary Film Adaptations
Director: Helene Hegemann
Author: Helene Hegemann
DOP: Mauel Dacosse
Montage: Bettina Böhler
Distributor: Constantin Film Verleih
Cast: Arly Jover, Mavie Hörbiger, Laura Tonke, Nikolai Kinski, Jasna Fritzi Bauer
FSK: 12
Release: 29.06.2017

Website
IMDB

Screenings

  • OV Original version
  • OmU Original with German subtitles
  • OmeU Original with English subtitles

Keine Programmdaten vorhanden.

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