Leoni Haney
Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.
Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de)
"Eine unerhörte Frau" is a German movie from October 2016, so this one is still relatively fresh and new. The director is Hans Steinbichler, an experienced filmmaker who has been in movies for 2 decades roughly and for writers Lex and Schwarzhuber, it is probably their by far most known work at this point. But this lack of experience also shows on many occasions of this movie that runs for slightly under 1.5 hours. The lead actress is Rosalie Thomass and she has really made it big in Germany recently, scored her first German Film Award nomination this year and also played alongside Peter Dinklage for example. But I cannot share the praise at all. I do think she is terribly limited and her talent is non-existent when it comes to convincingly quiet subtlety. She is all loud and in your face. You could see her perhaps as the German equivalent to Jennifer Lawrence and this is not a compliment by any means as I think she is another horribly overrated actress.Back to this film here, it is about a young mother struggling to find a doctor who can see the reason for her daughter's illness. Thomass is basically in every scene of the film and her performance feels fake and staged on so many occasions. Like I mentioned earlier already, it is not all her fault as the script is certainly not doing her any favors. The character writing is unbearably bad. First of all, the central character is strong-willed, very attractive despite having three children and yet constantly haunted by her own demons and still she manages to be so determined when it comes to fighting all the obstacles on the way to her daughter's safety. I never had the impression I was watching an authentic character. And when you think this is already bad, wait till I get started on the supporting characters. Her man is just there, adds nothing at all. The evil mother-in-law seems like she could have been taken right out of "Rote Rosen" or a Rosamunde Pilcher" film. What a waste. Gisela Schneeberger is so much more talented than that. And the doctors are all idiots basically, clueless, cold-hearted and incompetent. With the exception of the ones who find what is wrong with the daughter and the one who is supposed to cure her. These are obviously smart and geniuses and care for other people. I mean it sure is special to make an MRT of the head right? But they only care, especially the one who does the operation, because of Thomass' character's touching statement with a fruit at some airport where she catches him off-guard. Of course, they also want us to believe that there is only one doctor who can do the operation. And they want us to believe that the daughter is about to die (because the genius doctor says so) before surprising everybody at the courtroom story that the daughter did survive it all. Oh well.. How touching. Maybe if the writers had not failed in every other area of this film for over an hour before that, then you could feel something still when you see this positive revelation. Another forced happy ending that once again has nothing to do with realism or reality.And of course Thomass' character, after saving her daughter's life against the system, is still strong enough to sue everybody at fault for her child almost dying. Oh yeah, she also has two boys that she deals with at the same time and they are against her too because they feel neglected. Everybody is against her, but she is some kind of human superhero so who cares. She still manages all she wants to achieve. By the way the two boys with that scene when they say how they feel neglected were also the most random thing as well. Just like the husband they feel completely non-existent throughout the entire film. There are many embarrassing moments in Thomass' performance from start to finish, like the scene when she makes the call to new York, but can't speak English and this of course is supposed to show us she is a simple woman, not perfect etc. This is one of the scenes that reminded me especially of how this could have been taken right out of a Matthias Schweighöfer comedy because here we have pretty much the dramatic equivalent of a Schweighöfer comedy. And if you think there is anything positive in this statement because of how famous he or his films are here in Germany, then all hope is lost for you. I suggest you stay far far away from this outrageously unrealistic film. Do yourself a favor and listen to my words. And most of all, don't be tricked by the real life references about Angelika Nachtmann. I am 100% sure that apart from the basic plot here this film has nothing to do with her fate.
baharuka
"Eine unerhörte Frau" is based on a real story but more than that, it reflects the key points of every such story: What happens if someone dear to you gets sick and it's hard to find the cause? Will you be able to help them? How will the medical community treat you?I lived through a similar story together with my family. "Eine unerhörte Frau" reflects me and my family's experiences so well that I can guarantee it will give viewers a real sense of such an experience. The acting is acceptable and sometimes very good coming from the lead. I cried through a few scenes, not because the movie is extremely dramatic, but because I lived through those same scenes in my life and that was compelling, and that the lead's acting was spot on...There's also a parallel story involving the main character which is well handled and interesting. Overall, the movie is recommended!
