World Cinema Review - Germany

“Fashion Victims”
(Reine Geschmacksache)

Germany - 2007

Director: Ingo Rasper
Writers: Tom Streuber and Ingo Rasper
Starring: Edgar Selge, Roman Knizka,
Florian Bartholomäi, and Franziska Walser

Today's feature is a wonderful 2007 German film that I recently discovered. "Fashion Victims" is a witty and comical glimpse into the lives of a upwardly mobile middle-class family headed by Wolfgang Zenker (Edgar Selge), a middle-aged traveling salesman trading in wholesale woman's fashions. It's a story about coping with change, and yes, as are all great stories worth telling, it's a story about love.

As the film begins, Wolfgang is in the midst of a midlife crisis brought on by his stubborn desire to stifle change both at work and in his home. But as we and Wolfgang soon learn, change is inevitable and unstoppable. At work he has to deal with a young competitive colleague, Steven, (Roman Knizka) who's threatening to steal his best customers and who in more ways than one turns his world upside down. At home, he finds he no longer understands his wife and quite unexpectedly finds his marriage in crisis as well.


His young son, Karsten (Florian Bartholomäi) finds himself pressed into service as his father's driver and in their travels he falls for a handsome stranger who unbeknownst to him is his father's new young competitor. Comic mayhem ensues as the son reveals, "Dad, I've fallen in love with your colleague..."


It's a wonderfully light and airy story that manages to teach lessons about love, acceptance, openness and the importance of family. A story that leaves you wondering what happened next... "Did they get married...?" Overall it's a great film that deserves high praise for doing what many films try and fail to do... It seamlessly weaves "our" story into the greater story of life and living.


Easily a 5 out of 5 stars rating from me. I loved the film and watched it at least 6 times over the course of two weeks.

"Fashion Victims" is available from Netflix and inexpensive copies are available from Half.com.

Note: Watch for a lovely cameo appearance by Irm Hermann as a boutique owner. She is the actress who played "Krista" in "Ali: Fear Eats the Soul" and starred in many other famous Rainer Werner Fassbinder films of the early 1970's.