FREE ON CINEGEEK.DE Michael Verhoeven - The Nasty Girl 

Some people say "mind your own business" and they do. Other people pretend to, but then rush into those very affairs like a zealous guardian. Sonja Rosenberger belongs to the latter. The city fathers in Passau had forbidden her to rummage through the old archives. Sonja was not supposed to find out what happened during the Nazi era. Before that, Sonja was an inconspicuous student who had won an essay contest and with it a trip to Paris. Then another contest beckoned, and probably Sonja thought it would be interesting to include something about her own city. "My home in the Third Reich"; something like that. According to the official line, the Nazis hadn't done too much damage there. And now? Stupidly, however, Sonja found the archives about that time closed. She decided to find out what had really happened in Passau. What is the city trying to hide? This story is followed by Michael Verhoeve's film The Nasty Girl (that's one of the less offensive names hurled at Sonja during her search). The Nasty Girl is based on a true incident. The original Sonja's name, according to wikipedia, was Sonja Rosmus. She lived in Passau - and Passau has undeniable lines to the Nazis. Hitler even lived in Passau - in a building that they converted into a museum. Rosmus researched the archives for ten years. She even went to court and finally proved that Passau's alleged hero of the resistance, the pastor, urged his congregation to pray for Hitler. Of course, he also wrote articles that must be considered pure Nazi propaganda. These revelations made Rosmus persona non grata in Passau. She was threatened on the phone, neo-Nazis beat her up. Her husband (who had previously been her teacher) left her. The strange thing is that all this seems quite light in the film and not at all dreary or depressing. Most of all, this is due to Lena Stolze in the lead role, who may be readily compared to some great Hollywood stars of the past! She just HAS it; this outrageous lightness! Sometimes you think Michael Verhoeven even adds an ironic touch to the proceedings. A sneaky way to dress up such material like a comedy? I think it is always worthwhile to take life as a farce! Verhoeven even adds a distorting artificial dimension, because you can often recognize the backdrops from which the setting was built. Everything looks overtly artificial! It's fitting that Ronja sometimes speaks directly into the camera. Like a travel organizer back to National Socialism. Her opponents in turn, rage and rant as if they've climbed straight out of a Hollywoo screwball comedy. And well noted; Verhoeven stages this as lighthearted, not biting satire! All of this may at first astonish us, perhaps even disturb us. But it's up to you to find the right approach to the film to discover the story behind it.