"Raus aus der Haut" or "Changing Skins" is a German German-language film from 1997, so this 90-minute movie will have its 20th anniversary this year. It is a small-screen production and one of the works that turned writer and director Andreas Dresen into more than just another mediocre television filmmaker, namely one of Germany's most impactful directors from the former GDR. And there are political references in this film too, even if it is not in the center of it all and actually they never feel convincing, but rushed in. The radio report about the Schleyer abduction as motivation for the kids' kidnapping sounds as absurd as the rushed-in references near the end about fleeing from the GDR.
At its core, the film is about a girl who decides to kidnap her principal before he can cause her trouble and the boy who assists her in this adventure because he's hopelessly in love with her. The cast includes several names that German film buffs will still recognize today, two decades later. But they cannot turn this film into anything other than guilty pleasure material either as honestly, it is just way too absurd most of the time and still dares to take itself really seriously. The acting wasn't too bad all in all and the title song is okay too, but without a doubt the negative aspects here are more frequent than the positive ones. Sadly not even lead actress Bormann's gorgeously naked 19-year-old body is enough to make me look past all the weaknesses in here. If there is one area from which the film succeeds, then it is probably what kids that are bored and in love are capable of. From the political perspective, I cannot take the movie seriously at all. Dresen has made some stuff I like, but this is not one of them. It is maybe entertaining, especially in the first half, but it is never relevant, accurate or memorable with a romance component that feels highly unrealistic. Thumbs down. Pay attention to the young Matthias Schweighöfer early on. Or don't as he is just as insignificant as he is in his more recent works.
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