Forget America

Three youngsters in eastern Germany find their paths in Forget America, a debut by Vanessa Jopp with a Jules and Jim-like setup. David (Marek Harloff) and Benno (Roman Knižka) are buddies who meet blond beauty Anna (Franziska Petri), daughter of the new vicar. While Benno ends up kissing Anna, David ends up lovelorn. Anna dreams of becoming an actress; David opens a photo studio; Benno sets up shop as a car salesman. The dramatic thread is David´s obsession with Anna, who has a stormy relationship with Benno. Maggie Peren´s script is vague on temporal detail. There´s a nice sense of maturing in the leads, as Anna finds it difficult to realize her dream and the romantic David marks time with a plain girl in a supermarket (Ursula Doll). (Karlovy Vary International Film Festival)