Beautiful Bitch (Martin Theo Krieger, 2008): Germany

Beautiful Bitch, by director Martin Theo Krieger, was an excellent German film that went places not many films or film makers dare to go. The story was hard to swallow as you get emotionally attached to the characters. The film starts out showing life on the street for abandoned children. They are all on their own with no one to protect them or care for them.

One of these children is particularly strong in the way she provides for herself. Her name is Bica (Katharina Derr) but she is also commonly referred to as “Bitch” because people have a hard time pronouncing her name right. She pick-pockets in order to make a living. Bica is noticed by a man who takes her under his wing. He turns out to be the leader of a group of young children who are taught and trained to pick-pocket. He provides food and shelter for them as long as they give hi a certain amount of money each day in return.

Through out the film, Bica is exposed to the world around her as she sees all the things she is missing out on in life as a young teen. She joins into some of the fun life has to offer as she befriends one of her victims. They spark a close friendship even though they both come from very different life styles.

As the film progresses, Bica grows stronger and more independent. She begins to realize that she might not need the leader to survive. She joins a basketball team and makes more friends outside of her pick-pocketing partners. Overall, she is moving out of her childhood and becoming more of a young woman.

There are some very intense and disturbing scenes that add to the drama and realness of the film. Viewers should be aware that there are scenes of graphic violence that are not easy to bare through. I feel that it was important to keep these scenes in order to expose how this is a topic that is very real and going on in the world around us. With all of this said, Beautiful Bitch was a raw film that spoke very loud to its audience. It is definitely not a film that I will forget about in the near future.


About this entry