Isabella Parkinson Movies
- 2002
Produced and directed by seven Munich Film School students, Honolulu takes place not in Hawaii, but inside of a rural town just outside of Munich, Germany. Several vignettes, lasting approximately 10 to 15 minutes each, are connected by one of the town's public bus routes, outside of which two men (Stefan Maass and Jochen Nickel) booze the night away while waiting for the bus to make its rounds. There is a brief encounter between a shy young man (Daniel Bruehl) and notorious party girl Chiara Schoras), as well as a strange meeting of an eccentric Slav (Aleksandar Jovanovi) and a girl (Julia Hummer) who is fresh from a break-up with her former boyfriend. Other characters work their way into the plot, including lesbian bus driver with dreams of leaving the country for Honolulu, a smooth-talking and slightly unbalanced young man who puts the moves on a shy bride-to-be, and a Middle Eastern immigrant who finds himself comforting a lonely rich girl on her birthday. Honolulu also features Anna Thalbach, Markus Knuefken, Mehdi Moinzadeh, and Alexandra Maria Lara.
~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stefan Maass, Jochen Nickel, (more)
- 2001
Two lonely people find each other without meeting face to face in this romantic drama. Gregor (Ben Becker) is a disc jockey at a radio station who has never quite gotten over his breakup with his former girlfriend; they played together in a rock band, and she's since gone on to stardom, while he's stuck in an on-and-off relationship with co-worker Lily (Catrin Strieback), though they both know there's no future in it. Somewhere else in town, Mai (Isabella Parkinson) is in love with Nick (Nicolas von Wacherbarth), but Nick only has eyes for Mai's roommate Anne (Nele Muller-Stofen), leaving Mai depressed and at odds about what to do. One night, while Gregor is playing a song that has always reminded him of his ex, Mai is listening as she narrowly avoids an auto accident that could have easily taken her life. Mai finds that the song is stuck in her memory, and she sends an e-mail to him asking for details about the tune, claiming she knew the former girlfriend that he mentioned. Soon the two are sending each other messages on a regular basis, and they find themselves wondering if you can fall in love with a person you've never actually met. Frau2 Sucht Happyend is a remake of the South Korean hit Cheob-sok. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ben Becker, Isabella Parkinson, (more)
- 1998
- NR
The traditional (and not-so-traditional) mating dances of young people in Munich are examined for comic effect in the film Das Merkwuerdige Verhalten Geschlectsreifer Grossstaedter Zur Paarungzeist/Love Scenes From Planet Earth. Charly (Christoph Waltz) is a writer who is lonely and depressed, so one day he "borrows" his publisher's new car and soon attracts the attention of two women, Hilde (Michaela May) and Cornelia (Gudrun Landgrebe). Meanwhile, Charly's former significant other, Manuela (Ann-Kathrin Kramer), is interested in Sven (Heio Von Stetten), whom she met at a mall while he was taking the baby for a stroll. Except that it's not Sven's baby, but Manuela's; while she had given the tyke to her friend Birgit (Isabella Parkinson) to baby-sit for the day, Birgit wanted to spend the day at the gym owned by Jimmy (Oliver Korittke), whom she recently met at a dance party. However, if Birgit is looking for love, Jimmy is the wrong place to look for it; Jimmy is gay, and was at the party mainly because he had his eyes on the host, Peter (Markus Knuefken). This low-key comedy of romantic errors, the feature directorial debut of Marc Rothemund, was a major success in Germany, where it was the second highest grossing domestic release of 1998. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christoph Waltz, Ann-Kathrin Kramer, (more)
- 1998
Traveling down DePalma-like pathways, director Rainer Kaufmann made this dark comedy-thriller about 30-year-old small-town pharmacist Hella Moormann (Katja Riemann), unlucky with men. She finally beds Levin (Jürgen Vogel), who's in debt to imprisoned drug-dealer Dieter (Richy Mueller). Hella is shocked when Levin suggests that they kill his wealthy grandfather Hermann Graber (Joachim Tomaschewsky) to get his mansion and money. So when Graber dies, Hella suspects Levin. Soon Dieter joins Levin and Hella in the mansion, and the events become even more convoluted after Hella catches Levin making out with Dieter's sexy wife Margot (Isabella Parkinson). Shown at the 1998 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Katja Riemann, Jürgen Vogel, (more)
