DER FAN   1982
Directed by Eckhart Schmidt
92 minutes
In German with English subtitles

A disarming film with a thick German atmosphere from alternative Berlin in the early 80s. The story is very straightforward and simple... what this film is really about is its attitude and mood, along with all the mesmerizing images combined with Kraftwerk-ish synthesizer pop music, and how all these elements fuse together sensually. This obscure cult thriller is beautifully stylized, and its theme is  the "fan" phenomenon in modern music culture.

Der Fan stars an electrifying Désirée Nosbusch as a introverted 16 year old girl who becomes obsessed with the singer "R" of a sensationalized pop group. She has an imaginary love affair with her idol, which results in an accelerated delusion. When she travels to Munich to meet him at a television talk show, things spiral absolutely out of control. There is an odd sense of detached humanity throughout the movie, giving it a certain haunting presence.
 
The hypnotic soundtrack for this film is by the 80's German electro-cult band Rheingold, who were part of the Neuen Deutschen Welle music movement. They conjure up a stylish soundscape blending elements of early dark wave and pop/synthesizer rock. In a way, this movie ends up being a kind of horror film, but a highly unusual one. Wanna see something different than all the formula flicks in the cinemas downtown? Feel like something raw and cultish... a "blast from the past" that you will never have the chance to see in a cinema again? Here is a film which seduces you like a magnet with its deranged, hypnotic atmosphere. A very rare screening.

As one critic said; "The Fan is a dark and twisted film that takes society’s obsession with celebrity to pretty insane extremes, but it’s so well done that you can’t help but get sucked in by it all. It’s as much an art film as it is a horror picture but it’s nothing if not enthralling."

This will be a dazzling high-definition projection.