The Stratosphere Girl

Starring:Stratosphere Girl
Studio: TLA Releasing
Product Type: DVD

Description

Drawing magna-style comics is Angelas passion, but it wont get the dreamy, 18 year-old blonde out of her European hometown. Hungry for adventure, Angela spontaneously takes up the idea of Japanese DJ Yamamoto, whom she meets at her graduation party and flies to Tokyo to work as a hostess. Tokyo instantly casts its spell on the impressionable youth and her comics soon turn into animes threatening, violent action comics that unreel before her eyes with terrifying vividness. Angela plunges into a dark story of cruelty and murder, of naive young European women swallowed up into the brightly lit nights of downtown Tokyo, of men so powerful that even the police steer clear of them.

Customer Reviews:

Fantastic and Unique Movie, and Not Bad DVD.......2007-02-02

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

Fluff.......2006-10-31

"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!

Touched me deeply.......2006-10-30

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.

Stratosphere Girl.......2006-07-11

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.

"The Look Into Infinity" ~ "When One Is Looking For Something, Everything Has Meaning".......2005-11-02

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.

Average customer rating:

Lost in the Stratosphere
Starring: Lona Andre , Edmund Breese , June Collyer , Pauline Garon , and Hattie McDaniel
Director: Melville W. Brown
Manufacturer: Alpha Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0009XT8PQ
Release Date: 2005-08-23

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