Die Häupter meiner Lieben (1999) User Reviews

German film? Business as usual...

[Starbuck-13 · 4/10 · 3 November 2000]

I really wonder sometimes why my fellow Germans don't know how to make movies.

Many years, I credited to a lack of acting talent. But that seems not to be the case - if not for stunning Christiane Paul, this movie would have been even more boring and unimportant.

So, is it a lack of screenplay writers? Of good directors? Or do we Germans simply have no other topic to talk about but the eternal struggle between man and woman? (At least in this instance, the optional gay character was delightfully missing...)

This movie centers on female power, on friendship above any romantic relationship. That is not bad in the first place. But almost everything the characters are doing, from the first accidental kill to cold-blooded murder, goes unpunished, yes there isn't even any kind of conflict with, let's say, police, law, conscience...

So what is the message of this movie? Stay single and kill every man who dares to get close to you?

I don't know, but I don't care for German movies anyway. Even those with Christiane Paul. And her character would probably kill me for calling her beautiful... :-)

Never goes anywhere really

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 17 February 2017]

"Die Häupter meiner Lieben" or "Heads You Win, Tails You Lose" is a German 90-minute movie from 1999, so two more years and it will have its 20th anniversary. The director is Hans-Günther Bücking and it is one of his earlier career efforts. He is more known for his works as a cinematographer than for his directing efforts. The writer is Karl Boeser and these 1.5 hours were actually his only writing effort as he adapted the novel by Ingrid Noll here. This is the story of two young women who dive deeper and deeper into crime. It all starts with blackmailing, then goes on to murder even. The intention, however, here is to make this duo seem likable in what could be seen as a German approach to Thelma and Louise. Their crimes are merely reactions to rape attempts or blackmailing etc. at least early on. And as if the writer does not have enough material to fit into 90 minutes, they included another bloodlusty woman in the second half of the movie. It was probably intended as a very dark comedy, but it is rarely working at such. First of all, I believe that lead actresses Makatsch and Paul have almost no talent at all when it comes to comedy, and little more when it comes to drama. Still you need to say that the script was also not doing them any favors. It all feels very random and very try-hard in terms of the makers' attempts to shock the audience and make them laugh. The title, however, actually isn't that bad, but this is one of only very few positive aspects here. I must say I was glad this is a relatively short movie. The likes of Bohm, Luca and von Lüttichau (maybe the other 2 known cast members) add extremely little too apart from more awkwardness. So yeah, actually the general premise isn't too bad and I think this could have been a better movie than it actually turned out. I have a feeling though that the novel was already the problem, even if I haven't read it and maybe it was impossible to turn a sub-par literary work into a really good movie. This is rather the opposite. Besides, it is also obvious that this was never intended to be a drama at all as there is no police existing in the world of this film apparently despite all the murders happening. But then it also does not help that they included some dramatic moments and wanted them to be taken seriously, like the girls' arguments at times. What else is there to say? I personally am pretty glad it was over this quickly. Not recommended.