Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de)
"Madonnen" or "Madonnas" is a European movie from 2007, so this one is already over a decade old. It is mostly in the German language with minor parts in English and especially French as well. Writer and director is Bavarian female filmmaker Maria Speth and this is her second full feature film. I would say it is not too well-known, but also not forgotten, maybe got exactly the recognition it deserves. At minimally over two hours, it is a really long movie indeed and the most known cast member is Sandra Hüller who is of course most famous for playing the female lead in the Oscar-nominated Toni Erdmann, but we talked about that one on another occasion already, so now lets focus on these 120 minutes we have here. The rest of the cast is not too famous with the exception of the late Susanne Lothar perhaps. Anyway, it really is all about Hüller's character who is a lover to many and a mother to many as well. From start to finish here, we see her struggles with men, but also with her children. Still I never had the impression sadly that this film goes beyond the obvious below the surface by any means, which is a pity as I think the story had a lot more to offer than was displayed here, especially from the motherhood perspective. And the cast are also more talented than what we saw in here, especially Hüller. The consequence is that the movie drags quite a bit occasionally and given the massive runtime, I don't think that's much of a surprise. The good thing is that it feels authentic for the most part as if the characters we see are people that exist in real life and that's always a good thing. The bad news is that they really did not take any risks at all or I should maybe say Speth didn't and sure you cannot make anything wrong if you don't dare, but then you also do very little right and memorable moments are basically non-existent. The tone is fairly calm and slow for the most part I'd say. Overall, there is not one component about this movie that stands out whatsoever. It never feels like leaving its comfort zone and there it is dripping forward for a way too long 2 hours until the closing credits run in. I mean I don't need explosions or murder or bank robberies or anything truly spectacular, on the contrary that would not even have fit from the atmospheric perspective, but I do need more than what we got offered here. So my overall verdict is negative and I give this one a thumbs-down. Only the very biggest Sandra Hüller fans may want to give this award-winning film a watch. Everybody else skip it and watch something else instead like I should have.
