Ich, ein Groupie (4 Stars)

I didn't really know how to name this post. Usually when I review a German film I use its English title, if it's been released in English. The problem is that this film has been released with several names, such as "Higher and higher" and "Me, a groupie".

The film takes place in 1970. A young girl called Vicky is wandering through Hyde Park in London when she sees a rock band called Luke Zane performing. She goes home with the lead singer, Stewart West. She smokes dope for the first time and has sex with him. She falls in love with him, but he has no interest in her and doesn't inform her when the band leaves to go to Berlin the next day. Vicky decides to follow him, but her journey takes her through Amsterdam, Zurich, and Munich. On the way she sinks deeper and deeper into drug addiction, sexual excesses and crime.

This film is fascinating. I can't give it a higher rating, because the final scenes in the film disturb me, but it's a near perfect snapshot of the music scene in 1970, the transition from the softer music of the 60's to the harder blues influenced rock of the 70's. The rock groups Luke Zane, Murphy Blend and Birth Control appear in the film, and various group members take part as actors playing themselves. Luke Zane and Murphy Blend have faded into obscurity, but Birth Control are still together today, having released their last album in 2009. I also enjoyed the cinematography and the way in which the major cities are presented in their distinctive characters.

The film has mixed messages. It glorifies rock music and free sex, but criticises the drug abuse connected with it. Vicky is presented as both naive and shallow. She screams when she's raped by Hell's Angels in Switzerland, but after they've finished with her she jumps happily onto their bikes to ride off with them. That sends a morally dangerous message.

This film is also a landmark as the first major role of Ingrid Steeger, who has since gone on to become one of Germany's most famous film and television stars. During the 1970's she appeared in a string of sex comedies, before becoming a household name for her appearances in the television series "Klimbim".