Customer Reviews

The Stratosphere Girl

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Stratosphere Girl is a fine Pan-European co-production (Germany - UK - France - Switzerland - Italy). The dialogue is mostly in English because much of the action takes place in Tokyo where English is the only common language between the Japanese and Europeans. English may be the lingua franca but it's heavily accented English all round. Some viewers may require subtitles.

Angela, (the lovely Chloé Winkel) a Belgian girl just out of High School, has a passion for drawing comics. From the opening frame she narrates the story, as if recounting the plot of a comic strip, which we actually see her drawing. She meets a handsome young Japanese man who works as a DJ and strikes up a relationship with him. She's bored with life in Europe, so he suggests that she go over to Japan to work as a "Hostess". "Hostesses" in this context are more like lap-dancers. And there is a demand for young Western women to serve as these so-called hostesses. Only too happy for a change, she flies off without telling anyone. She becomes a hostess and is an immediate hit with the lecherous Japanese businessmen. To the extent that the other Western hostesses get jealous of her. She ends up with shards of broken glass in her soup, acid in her shampoo and other catty stuff courtesy of her roomates. But this is nothing compared to the mystery she stumbles upon when she sees a "Missing Persons" poster at the police station. Another Western girl, a Russian known to her roomates, has disappeared. Is it the Yakuza, a white-slavery ring, murder? She decides to investigate. A besotted customer meanwhile supplies Angela with her nickname, Stratosphere Girl, likening her to an angel sent from above. We know from the start that nothing really bad will happen to Angela as she's the one telling us the story. The next question that comes to mind is, is the story for real, or is it all just a fantasy. Some viewers seem to take the movie literally. I prefer to view it as pure fantasy on her part and that works out much better with the twist at the end. The ending might be disappointing for some. But it's perfectly in keeping with the dreamlike tone of this movie.

The DVD is unrated but it would probably merit an R rating for brief nudity, sexual situations, mild language and brief violence. Be sure to stick around through the end credits and you'll come across an offbeat take on the usual animal-rights disclaimer: "No blondes were harmed in the production of this motion picture".

TLA Releasing has provided an excellent DVD transfer in the film's original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 (enhanced for widescreen TV). Colors are rich and vibrant, especially in showing the garish night-lights of Tokyo. Black levels are suitably deep. Skin tones are just right. The print itself is clean with no dirt or defects. Sound is the original English 5.1 surround with good reproduction of both dialogue and music. Optional English subtitles are provided. I initially played it without subtitles and would recommend it that way to convey the sense of isolation and bewilderment that Angela feels being unable to understand the language (much like in Lost in Translation). But playing it through with the subtitles is also fun because you get to hear what the Japanese businessmen are actually saying to each other about these gorgeous young women. Extras are limited to a Director's Statement, Production Notes and a Stills Gallery. All in all, a pretty entertaining movie if you're in the mood for something different.

Sidenote: Chloé Winkel was a teenage model in Europe before she took on this her first acting role. She has appeared in European editions of Vogue, Elle, Glamour and was also a model for Calvin Klein.

I rented this movie the day before and just barely got done watching it. I absolutely loved it..I am going to order a copy from Amazon. I am not going to give a synopsis of the movie as a couple other reviewers have already supplied that need. But rather, I would like to share with you the affect this movie had on my senses; and also, I would like to share what I percieved were the ethereal qualities of this most excellent movie.

Being of Asian descent, and having dated women of various ethnicities, I was instantly drawn to the main plot. But more importantly, I was intrigued by the line in front of the DVD.."Sometimes imagination is your only escape." I know the casual observer might percieve the meaning to be that you are "escaping reality" through your imagination. I intensly disagree with this line of thinking. And after reading the director's statement(contained as an extra on the DVD), I was happy to see that he had a very expansive view of the imagination.

I know many will disagree with me, but through my personal self-education(and personal experiences), I've discovered that many a magic can occur through the developement and use of your imagination. Your perceptions of reality and what is or isn't possible will be totally obliterated when you strengthen and expand your imagination. This is an intense movie that dares to utilize its own imagination to create a world that is mesmerizing, beautiful, inspiring, and adventurous.

Chloe Winkel, main actress, is absolutely intoxicating in her portrayel of Angela. As a result, I was in constant captivation of Angela's intense drive to create her "own world" through her drawings and her day-to-day adventures. I have deep respect for Japanese Anime(as well as Manga), so its inclusion as a theme in this movie was really beautiful for me.

Bad things about this movie? Only one for me, it was a little too short. The other thing is in regards to the DVD. I really wish there were a little bit more special features(I guess I am bit spoiled by modern DVD's). The movie runs just shy of an hour and a half. Special features include a Stills Gallery, Director's Statement, and Production Notes.

I understand that this movie will not appeal to the masses. I don't give a crap. This movie will appeal to those in which it needs to appeal to..and for those people, they are in for a treat. I feel more enriched now that I have experienced this piece of art.

Angela is attending her high school graduation party. While the others are inside dancing and enjoying themselves she sits alone outside drawing. With a world of possibilities awaiting she is saddened by the fact that she is scheduled to start a new job in the morning. Angela longs for adventure and wants to leave Belgium and see the world. A talented young artist, she expresses her inner desires and fantasies in her notebook in comic book format.

Eventually awakening from her revere, Angela joins the other guests and winds up spending the evening with an attractive male Asian from Japan hired as the DJ for the festivities. She shares her longing to travel with him and he suggests Tokyo as a good place to start her adventure. He gives her the name and address of a upscale gentleman's club where she could work as a hostess.

She takes him up on the offer and so her adventure begins. Unfortunately once there she discovers what it's like to be a stranger in a strange land. Finding herself at the mercy of wealthy, powerful men and in competition with aggressive young girls out to earn a living she withdraws further into her fantasy comic book drawings. When Angela learns a girl from the gentleman's club is missing she decides to solve the mystery, making herself the hero and detail the account in her drawings.

'The Stratosphere Girl' is a European film, thus having that recognizable foreign film flavor, stylish and a little slow. However it's in English so if you don't like reading subtitles that's a plus.

If you give this film your full attention it will slowly but surely draw you into its anime inspired Asian-fusion landscape. The sharp, artsy cinematography, creative storyline, smart, insightful dialogue and incredibly beautiful newcomer in the role of Angela (Chloe Winkel) makes for a wonderful viewing experience. I certainly hope Chloe Winkel appears in more films in the future. The one thing I'm not sure of is how well this movie will stand up to repeat viewings. Since I've only watched it once so far I guess that is yet to be determined.

In order to appreciate this film, it's good to know that it was the intention of the director to tell the story through the heroine's perspective - as a young manga cartoon artist, she is experiencing her adventures as anime. This influences how the story is told. She isn't experiencing the adventure the way someone like you or I might. I recommend reading the production notes before watching the film. The first time I saw it, I thought it was a shallow piece of fluff. Then I read the production notes and watched it again, and "got" it the second time.

The heroine flies to Tokyo because she learns of a job as a hostess. She enters a world where the men view these young blonde European women as beautiful objects of fascination and desire, and where competition between the girls might be more dangerous than the attentions of the clients.

In some ways this film reminded me of Tideland. The underbelly of Tokyo nightlife is seen through the eyes of an innocent girl fresh out of high school, and this somehow makes it seem less seedy. It's almost as if her innocence and beauty makes everything around her less ugly. There is also a similarity between the ending of this movie and the ending of Tideland. Watching Tideland if you haven't already, and see if you can see what I mean.

It's worth watching just for its beauty and scenes of Tokyo nightlife.

Another reviewer has commented that the actress isn't very good because her facial expressions are non-existent. I disagree. From the story line, I got the impression that prior to flying to Tokyo, the character's only experience with males was her absent father, some high school teachers and young men her own age. She is out of her league with these sophisticated business men and experienced women, and has practically no understanding of Japanese culture. I interpreted her expression as somewhat shy, self-protective, demure and completely without guile. It sets her apart as being completely different from the other female characters in the movie. Had her facial expressions been less subtle, she wouldn't have pulled it off.

I give this movie five stars not just because it's an enjoyable and beautiful film to watch, but because there is more meaning to it than what is on the surface.

This is an artisitic and visually appealing movie.

The main character is an angelic teenage girl who is an aritist. She's continuously drawing pictures about her strange experiences throughout the movie.

I had a hard time following what was going on as far as the plot.

Perhaps as another reviewer has suggested it shouldn't be viewed as a literal story but rather symbolic of someone's struggle with and eventually conquest over the evil forces in their life.

She runs away from home and goes to Japan where she gets involved with some sort of escort service where nothing too serious happens to her. All she has to do is hang out with these rich guys who shower her with fatherly attention and gifts.

In real life this would be a very dangerous situation for a young girl and throughout the movie I was fearful that something horrible was going to happen to her at any moment.

Someone is really out to get her although I'm not sure exactly who. I never did figure this out. Perhaps if I watch it again I might which I very well may do sometime.

The ending is totally implausible and is not consistent with the rest of the movie if we view the story as something that could really happen.

Jeff Marzano

Video:Anamorphic 1.85:1, Non-Progressive, NTSC. Picture is normal in this dvd spec. / Sound:English(include of some japanese ^^) DD 5.1 & DD 2.0, Sound is not bad. / DVD Features:-Production Notes & -Director's Statement & -Stills Gallery & -Trailers. / Sub:English Sub(Dutch is not in this DVD. Amazon`s details are wrong). / Movie:Fantastic and unique. Lonely and dark. But, Ending is? (^^) / ETC:Strange night world of Japan, and there are variety girls and Men. Some Nude & Sex scenes are good!(But short) / Rate:Unique Movie and not bad DVD. Rate=4

At a certain point in childhood, most of develop a mental block that tells us when an idea is just too fantastical to be true. Even if it is.

But apparently the "Stratosphere Girl" has no such roadblock in her head, which is a good thing for moviegoers because otherwise there would be no movie. The horrendously underrated M.X Oberg's dreamlike story is filled with the glittering, dangerous visage of Tokyo and a Hitchcockian sense of dread, but "The Stratosphere Girl" is softened by the hazy winding storyline, and the heroine's "hero's journey."

At her graduation party, budding artist Angela (Chloé Winkel) is fascinated by a beautiful Japanese DJ, Yamamoto (Jon Yang). As they discuss her future and her lack of travel, Angela decides to simply dart off to Tokyo. No warnings, no note to family.

With Yamamoto's recommendation, Angela is able to get a job at a special club where Western blondes entertain Japanese businessmen, and rooms with a bunch of other girls with the same job. But when the clients develop a special liking for Angela's innocent personality (and her claim to be only fifteen), the other girls start jealously trying to sabotage her life. Think glue in the shampoo and glass in the soup.

And when she isn't sketching the world around her, Angela discovers that a Russian girl has gone missing after a private party. And as she digs deeper, finding a connection to a sinister German businessman (Filip Peeters), Angela chronicles her findings and theories in her art. But when her cartoon fantasies start spilling into her investigation, Angela must uncover what is truth and what is fantasy.....

"The Stratosphere Girl" is one of those movies that blithely refuses to be categorized -- maybe this is a thriller or a murder mystery, but it may also be a coming-of-age tale about an innocent Dutch girl in the glitzy maze of Tokyo, a love story, a multicultural art-house flick, or a simple story about how your imagination can warp your perceptions. Or perhaps it's a combination of all of the above, shifting from one style to another as the story winds on.

German director/writer M.X. Oberg unspools the story in a very slow, meditative way, sprinkling Angela's way with clues and stories that may or may not be true. He spends lots of time focusing on the many clubs, low streets and slightly seedy apartments of Tokyo, and films most of the movie in a sedate, pale haze that gives it a vaguely dreamlike air, particularly during the scenes that involve drug use. And he intersperses it with glimpses of Angela's psyche and fantasies through her artwork, as well as glimpses of her and Yamamoto making love in a pure-white room.

He also handles the suspenseful mystery well, but gives it a unique twist. Angela basically goes scouting around for clues and ends up in over her head -- especially since weird people are following her and her drawings are stolen -- but Oberg gives the usual no-one-believes me plot an unusual reverse twist that may inspire either groans or relieved laughter. He explains everything in a single wordless scene that wraps up the heroine's "hero journey" nicely.

Chloe Winkel sometimes seems too passively doe-eyed, but she does a solid job as a sheltered girl who suddenly finds herself in a very sordid world, full of nude modeling, transvestite bikini bars, and drunken Japanese guys who demand to know if she's a virgin. Yet she maintains her innocent outlook by thinking of herself as an archetypical hero on a quest, and by focusing on her beloved drawings. The stunningly beautiful Jon Yang gives a short but brilliant performance as Yamamoto, and he has some pretty amazing chemistry with Winkel in just a smile or a look.

"The Stratosphere Girl" is a unique little movie -- an art-house thriller that also serves as a sort of coming-of-age tale for a very unusual heroine. Definitely a good movie for those who like something a little different.

Surreal and listless story of a teenage Belgium girl who goes to Tokyo and finds herself a one of several blonde hostesses in a bar catering to Japanese businessmen. She learns that one of the girls had disappeared under mysterious circumstances. As an comic-style artist, she puts the story to paper as she unravels the mystery. That sounds more exciting than the film actually is.

German films (the director is Matthias Oberg) seem to have their own visual style. Spare yet beautiful. This had a reduced palatte but generally high-key lighting.

The acting, however, is very low-key. Especially by the young actress who plays the lead, Chloé Winkel. She isn't bad, tho, and has a certain appeal. This is the only film in her IMDb filmography.

While the characters and most of the actors are foreign, the film's language is English. Which is fortunate for Bert Kwouk who, once again, appears as a Japanese. To me, his was the only familiar face in the entire movie.

In the end, you might wonder what was supposed to be real, what was imaginary. I didn't care enuf to wonder.

I saw this film on a festival screening and when we left the theater, the festival staff asked us to rate the movie between one and five, but I wasn't able to. I really wasn't sure if I liked it or not. It's quite an odd movie with a somewhat weird plot, but it's beautifully filmed and full of great actors. Chloë Winkel does a good job in the leading role and the beautiful Jon Yang is good too. Best of all is the bad guy.

Give the film a chance. You may like it.

"Stratosphere Girl" was written and directed by German filmmaker M.X. Oberg. Shot in Tokyo & Cologne, Germany, the film has an exotic look. Unfortunately, the beautiful Chole Winkel has ZERO emotional expression. She delivers one of the most stone-faced stoic performances on camera. For those who enjoy looking at models, yes she is a pretty girl. However, she is not an actress. Because she is both the central character and the narrator of the film, she sinks the movie. Jon Yang who plays the half-Japanese Yamamoto also looks great and does well in the wordless romantic flashbacks. Other than that, he has very little to do. The plot goes from a runaway Belgian girl who is 15 that somehow gets both air fare & passport to be able to fly to Tokyo without her mother's knowledge. Once there, she becomes a hostess in a club where leering older Japanese men are fascinated by her beauty & jazzed by her youth. Meanwhile, rather than merely being contented by the sleaze festival, Oberg decides to make the film a murder mystery as Angela searches for clues of a missing Russian girl named Larissa, played by Peggy Jane de Schepper. After drawing all of her experiences and concerns, Angela shows the drawings and explains her concerns to Yamamoto. The movie ends with Larissa's reappearance and Angela's being awarded a fat contract to draw animae. The cinematography is interesting. However, the film seemed to drag. Overall, this is a stylish piece of cinematic fluff. You can do better than seek this one out. Taxi!