"Große Mädchen weinen nicht" or "Big Girls Don't Cry" is a German movie from 2002, so this one has its 15th anniversary this year. The writer and director is Maria von Heland and this is probably her second most known work today after "Hector and the Search for Happiness". They sure took some risks with this film here as the lead actress is Anna Maria Mühe (daughter of Ulrich) and when this film came out both her parents were actually still alive. Her co-lead is Karoline Herfurth, who was already known back then, at least here in Germany. Jennifer Ulrich plays a supporting part in here and for her, it was also the first on-screen performance. In terms of the older cast members, the likes of Kurt, Petri, Harder, Schmeide, Brandt or Laser (in a very memorable one-scene performance) may also be famous to German film buffs.The possibly biggest supporting performance comes from Josefine Domes and I am a bit surprised to see she never acted in a film before or after this one, so yeah many rookies in here for sure.
As for the story, this is the tale of two teenage girls who have been best friends since a very young age, but crucial changes in both their lives put a huge question mark to their connection. I would not really call this a coming-of-age movie though. I think it is a downright drama, maybe even a thriller or crime movie with some of the stuff happening during these slightly under 1.5 hours. On a positive note, no matter if you like brunettes, blondes or whatever, it's highly unlikely you will not be attracted to either Herfurth or Mühe and for me it is definitely the former. Back to the movie itself: I think it is well-acted by everybody involved and the script is also fairly good. Maybe towards the end, it goes a bit over the top as it includes the following subjects: several cases of cheating, murder, suicide, rape, cocaine abuse and others too. Actually, the film becomes more and more drastic the longer it goes. Early on, especially in the first half, it is more like a revenge film that has to do with hurt feelings, but nothing too serious. This changes quickly. I think the cheating scene involving Herfurth's character is really something that is extremely telling because her character became the person that she despised the most earlier in the film. No surprise this also caused a major reaction to the character.
Eventually, this film does not really have any truly great moments, but it is still a pretty interesting and tense and dramatic watch from start to finish. I already said that the acting was good and I certainly liked how this movie turned out overall. The music very early on and very late is also pretty good and works well together with the film's message on friendship and especially these old photographs. It's also interesting how the one girl from the two who is relatively well-behaved is the one who gets in trouble much more with her parents compared to the other one where the parents have almost given up on her. The film is also really interesting in the ways how it depicts the parents, not just the main characters', but also the parents of Tessa and Yvonne. There are many interesting details to this movie for sure and these are as much a reason why it is a success as the two central characters and their fates. I definitely recommend seeing this one, certainly one of the better German films from the first years of the new millennium.
As for the story, this is the tale of two teenage girls who have been best friends since a very young age, but crucial changes in both their lives put a huge question mark to their connection. I would not really call this a coming-of-age movie though. I think it is a downright drama, maybe even a thriller or crime movie with some of the stuff happening during these slightly under 1.5 hours. On a positive note, no matter if you like brunettes, blondes or whatever, it's highly unlikely you will not be attracted to either Herfurth or Mühe and for me it is definitely the former. Back to the movie itself: I think it is well-acted by everybody involved and the script is also fairly good. Maybe towards the end, it goes a bit over the top as it includes the following subjects: several cases of cheating, murder, suicide, rape, cocaine abuse and others too. Actually, the film becomes more and more drastic the longer it goes. Early on, especially in the first half, it is more like a revenge film that has to do with hurt feelings, but nothing too serious. This changes quickly. I think the cheating scene involving Herfurth's character is really something that is extremely telling because her character became the person that she despised the most earlier in the film. No surprise this also caused a major reaction to the character.
Eventually, this film does not really have any truly great moments, but it is still a pretty interesting and tense and dramatic watch from start to finish. I already said that the acting was good and I certainly liked how this movie turned out overall. The music very early on and very late is also pretty good and works well together with the film's message on friendship and especially these old photographs. It's also interesting how the one girl from the two who is relatively well-behaved is the one who gets in trouble much more with her parents compared to the other one where the parents have almost given up on her. The film is also really interesting in the ways how it depicts the parents, not just the main characters', but also the parents of Tessa and Yvonne. There are many interesting details to this movie for sure and these are as much a reason why it is a success as the two central characters and their fates. I definitely recommend seeing this one, certainly one of the better German films from the first years of the new millennium.