Aus dem Tagebuch einer 17-Jährigen (4 Stars)

This is a German erotic film made in 1979. It was released in English as "Young Love, Hot Love", but the literal translation is "Pages from the Diary of a 17-year-old Girl". The text on the DVD cover calls it a comedy. That's incorrect. It's a bittersweet tragedy with heavy elements of sexploitation. The viewer is asked to have sympathy with the young girl while she's shown naked for most of the film.

The film takes place in Hamburg, far from the locations of the 1970's Bavarian sex comedies. It begins with 17-year-old Elke tearing the pages from her diary and throwing them on the fire. She complains that she can never find love. Then we see scenes from her life as described in her diary.

Note: Only the day and month are stated in the film, not the year. For the sake of ease I'll assume that the scene with the burning diary takes place in 1979. That would mean that the events in the diary take place from 1977 to 1979.

On 12th March 1977 Elke wakes up and lies in bed masturbating. It feels good, but she feels guilty afterwards. At school she confesses to her best friend Ellen, who tells her that it's completely natural and nothing to feel guilty about. This leads to Elke's first lesbian experience with Ellen, which makes her feel even more guilty.

In March 1977 Elke was only 14. The actress Sylvia Engelmann was 21 when she made the film. Does she look 14? Maybe, maybe not. Look at the photo above and judge for yourself.

The next diary page is from 15th November 1977. Her birthday was on 1st September, so Elke is now 15. She hears noises in the living room, so she peeks through the door and sees her parents having sex on the couch. She's shocked and aroused at the same time. She goes to her room and masturbates, despite feeling guilty about it. Guilt plays a big part in Elke's life. Maybe she's had a Christian upbringing. It would have been interesting to hear more about it.

On 17th November 1977 Elke begins to date a boy from her school called Lothar. He wants sex with her, but she's not ready. For some reason, her clumsy attempts at a romance remind me of a girl I dated when I was 18. Her name was Claire McConville. She was 15, the same age as Elke in the film. I believe I was Claire's first boyfriend, and she was very mixed up, just like Elke. We only had one date, but I've never been able to forget her. At that age I'd already had a lot of girlfriends, but Claire was different. In the cinema she took my hand and put it between her legs, but after a minute at most she pushed my hand away. She did this a few times. Guilt? Probably. If I'd met her a year later our relationship might have lasted.

The next page is from 15th September 1978. That's a big jump, in more ways than one. Elke is now 16. She writes in her diary that she's lost her virginity. She's had sex with Lothar twice, but she didn't enjoy it much. Masturbation is better. It's strange that the film skips the diary entry with her first sex. She's at a party and gives Lothar a handjob. He enjoys it a lot, but she feels ashamed and looks away the whole time. Guilt.

There's something important in the film that I haven't mentioned yet. There's a blind man who lives near her. On every day from her diary she sees him. Sometimes it's from a distance, looking down from her apartment window. Sometimes she talks to him or helps him cross the road. She's obsessed with him. She feels pity for him and wants to somehow help him.

On 4th January 1979 Elke is at a party with Lothar. He wants sex with her, but she refuses. Everyone at the party is pairing up for sex, so Lothar goes to bed with another girl. Elke realises that Lothar isn't the right boy for her, so she breaks up with him. She isn't even sad about it.

The next page is 10th November 1979. Elke is finally 17. She's no longer friends with Ellen. In a café she's approached by a man who's in Hamburg on business. His name is Holger, and he's 31. She falls in love with him immediately. She goes back to his hotel room, and it's the first time she really enjoys sex. It's the beginning of a big romance for her, and she doesn't see that he's only using her.

20th November 1979 is the final page in the diary. Holger has to leave. He's going by train to Frankfurt, and from there he's flying to Singapore. Elke is heartbroken, but Holger brushes her off. He doesn't want a long distance relationship and tells her to forget him.

"Why does love exist if it hurts so much? Why is everything over before it's even begun? What should I do now? Everything is meaningless. What should I write in my diary? 20th November. I've lost the most important thing in the world. I'm 17 years old and I'm miserable. What else should I write? Everything is meaningless".

While she's still standing on the platform, Elke sees the blind man and hugs him for the first time. He tells her that he's leaving Hamburg to live with his sister. This chance meeting leaves her feeling melancholy. She's still sad, but she's beginning to feel hope for the future.

"I'm unhappy, terribly unhappy. The blind man is happier than me. It's crazy. What's happiness? What's unhappiness? Who decides? I'm 17. I'm not Ellen. I'm not Lothar. I can love. I'm 17. I can see. I'm not blind. I have feelings. What's a day? What's a week? What is love? What's life? Life has lots of days. Lots of days! One of those days is beginning today".

Elke goes home and writes these last words in her diary. Then she burns it. She's beginning a new life, looking forwards, not backwards.

This is a good film, if you accept it for what it is. I grew to like Elke over the course of the film. She's a typical mixed up teenager. I can relate to her. I was like her when I was 14 to 17. I had a lot of sexual desire, and I felt a lot of guilt. I also enjoy the film's nudity. Sylvia Engelmann is an attractive young woman, and so is Ellen. Lothar annoyed me so much that I felt like slapping him. He's nothing like the way I was as a teenager. He's like the boys in my class who felt sexually confident but ended up behaving like fools. We all knew teenagers like them.

Sadly, the film is long out of print. This is the DVD cover, defaced by the ugly age rating. If you're lucky, you might be able to find a copy on Ebay.