A Munich teen achieves worldwide fame as the embodiment of sexual freedom in the 1960s after romancing some of the biggest rock stars on the planet and rising to stardom as a successful supermodel in this biographical musical drama centering on the eventful life of Uschi Obermaier. Until she arrived at the legendary Berlin "Kommune 1," Obermaier (Natalia Avelon) was just your typical German teen. All of that would quickly change, however, as Obermaier entered into a heated affair with leader
Rainer Langhans (Matthias Schweighofer), appeared on the covers of Playboy and Stern, and became an icon of the young generation. But even when offered the opportunity to become an international film star by Italian producer Carlo Ponti, Obermaier refuses to trade her freedom for fleeting fame. Later, after experiencing the darker side of fame during a relationship with Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards and realizing that she can no longer reconcile her outlook on life with living like a common groupie, the outspoken hippie nymph embarks on a quest to find eternal love with charismatic globe-trotter Dieter Bockhorn, the owner of Hamburg's red-light district. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
The attractive but bird-brained German biopic Eight Miles High brings up the question of tone, and it never comes close to answering it. The film's tone is utterly indistinct, beyond fatuous adoration of its subject.
Eight Miles High, based on the memoirs of Uschi Obermaier, wants to be both a tangy piece of Eurosleaze and an overview of one woman's transformations from the heady days of the 1960s onward.
Like most flower-power nostalgia trips, Eight Miles High has the irksome effect of reminding the audience " whether too young or too square " that it missed out on the grooviest moment in history, man. But as these things go, this one goes with
Refreshingly, a '60's nostalgia trip from the self-indulgent point of view of the German template for the beautiful-naked-model-bedding-chauvinist-rock-god formula.
Once your main character walks into a room and finds her boyfriend cheating on her with another woman while a chimpanzee in a dress looks on, you've pretty much lost your shot at a serious movie.
If most of the film locates Obermeier's quest for freedom in a series of surprisingly drab drug-fueled hookups, then the final section generates slightly greater interest by suggesting an alternate route of exploration.
In "Eight Miles High," Uschi Obermaier(Natalia Avelon) is discovered at a disco in Munich by a photographer in 1968. Her mother(Petra Berndt) is absolutely apoplectic when she finds the nude photos as she is worried what the neighbors will think. Uschi takes the opportunity to hit the road with her friend
Sabine(Friederike Kempter) to Berlin where Commune1 is located. Sabine soon leaves but Uschi hooks up with Rainer(Matthias Schweighofer) to practice free love which makes it kind of hard for anybody to get any sleep. Things are rocky until somebody is stupid enough to make a bomb and the police show up.(Just a quick reminder. The guy at the meeting who wants to blow everyone up is always a cop.) Uschi and Rainer emerge from the mess unscathed and are invited to hang out with the Rolling Stones.
Freely adapted from Uschi Obermaier's life story, "Eight Miles High" is not a good example of a biopic since Uschi is something of a historical footnote(a great looking footnote but still...) as a model and occasional actress who is probably of more interest to people in her native Germany. Since time immemorial, young people have wanted to escape their drab surroundings to have adventures and Uschi is no different. The movie does an admirable job of capturing her world, not condescending to the anarchists, while portraying her as a driving force that while challenging societal norms could be just as disruptive towards her friends and lovers. I'm just amazed the Rolling Stones survived her being with them.
August 5, 2009
Walter M.
Super Reviewer
Took me 3 start-and-stops to finish this. And I'm home sick and bed so its not really like I had anything else to do...I'm not sure what this movie set out to accomplish. If it was indeed written with the help of the real Uschi based on her experiences; she doesnt paint a very good picture of herself. She's
basically manipulative and uses her beauty to get what she wants. And then her big moment in the end when she realizes she's alone, she feels she wouldn't have done anything different. Well, fine - I wont weep for you. The movie just sort of drags along, nude scene after nude scene, Natalia Avelon's breasts must be in every scene. I felt I should have been seeing a Russ Meyer flick. But then again a Russ Meyer movie would have been FUN.I'll also never begin to understand how women think Keith and Mick are hot so that alone is a turnoff.
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