Beste Zeit (4 Stars)

Kati is a 16-year-old girl who lives on a farm in Bavaria in the 1990's. Based on the car license plates she lives near Dachau. She's only days away from her 17th birthday. What does she think about? Her school? Her career? Of course not! She's interested in boys. She's trying to find love, but she doesn't know what love is. Does anyone? It's one of life's great mysteries, but she knows that she likes a neighbour called Mike. She gets excited when he comes back home from his military service the day before her birthday.

Kati's best friend Jo warns her away from Mike. Maybe it's not possible to say what love is, but it's relatively easy to recognise when there's no love. Mike tells Kati directly that he wants to sleep with her. Kati thinks that means he loves her.

Kati hardly notices one of her school friends called Rocky. He idolises her, but he's not as tall and good looking as Mike. And he wears glasses. It's obvious to the viewer from early in the film that he's the right man for her. Kati is the only one who doesn't know.

The film is slow moving and sometimes dreamy. Nothing much happens, so it took me time to find my way into the film. I've always liked the films directed by Marcus Rosenmüller, but somehow I missed "Beste Zeit" (engl. "Best Time"). I've been told it's the first film in a trilogy about Kati's coming of age. I need to find the other two films.