"After Five in the Jungle," is a German comedy
staring Franka Potente (Run, Lola, Run) in her first film.
Anna turns
17, and her parents leave the house and allow her to throw a party. The only
stated restriction is that they must keep the party downstairs. When her parents
return in the morning, they are not pleased. There are hungover teenagers,
empty bottles, and trash strewn all over the house, there is a horseradish in
the fridge carved into a huge dildo, and there's a small box of hash on the
floor. Worst of all, daddy's favorite record, a very rare Thelonius Monk
album, is broken. Dad goes postal, and Anna reacts by hitchhiking to Munich. She is picked up by a young man
who is also leaving home and who has a huge crush on her.
Meanwhile, all four parents meet in a disco trying to find the kids and
they eventually retire to Anna's house, where they
recall their own misspent youth, get drunk, and smoke the hash.
In Munich, Anna wants to win a role in a commercial
impersonating Janis Joplin, but she and the boy basically just have various misadventures. Anna is talked into a midnight swim by
the young man, and strips to her
panties. Then his real intentions become known, which is when she decides to
return home. Anna finds
another copy of the broken record, and returns home to find the house in
nearly the same condition as it was after her own party, with all four parents
passed out in the living room.
The story is told through the eyes of Anna's
little sister, who keeps a journal.
Unfortunately, this film is only available from Germany and is in German
with no subtitles, but if you have the language skills, I recommend this one.
Not only is it Franka Potente's first role, and a nude one, but it has much to
say about the fact that age and maturity are not necessarily the same. And
this may be your only chance to see someone scrub and then blow dry a dead
rabbit.
If you are not familiar with our grading system, you need to
read the
explanation, because the grading is not linear. For example, by
our definition, a
C is solid and a C+ is a VERY good movie. There are very few Bs
and As. Based on our descriptive system, this film is a:
C+
