7/10
Post War Drama with GOLDEN GLOBE winner Nastassja KINSKI
28 December 2023
Nasti KINSKI and all the lovers of Mary

At the beginning of the 1980s, German actress Nastassja KINSKI began her astonishing and wonderful rise to becoming a world-famous GOLDEN GLOBE winner (she received the trophy for her title role in TESS). In the years following this brilliant start to her career, she established herself as a busy actress in Hollywood, but had significantly less success at the box office than she had hoped. As a result, many of the films she made back then were all too quickly forgotten. When a then Soviet Russian director like Andrei KONTSCHALOWSKI made his very first Hollywood film with her in the lead role, it could only have gone wrong, as was often etched in the newspapers at the time. Not even close! MARIA's LOVERS from 1984 is an astonishing film that the German-French television station ARTE graciously made available to interested audiences again a few months ago.

At the beginning there are remarkable documentary recordings that director legend John HUSTON shot immediately after the Second World War. American soldiers clearly suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder! After the First World War, such men were still called "war tremors". Just such a soldier is young Ivan Bibic (John SAVAGE), who wants nothing more than to marry his childhood sweetheart Maria (Nastassja KINSKI) after the end of the Second World War. Although she is still with the handsome Al Griselli (Vincent SPANO), she then marries Ivan, to whom she is genuinely fond. But that's just where the problems begin, because Ivan suffers from erectile dysfunction due to the mental stress during the war. It goes without saying that this is not good for the young marriage at all. One day a traveling folk singer (Keith CARRADINE) comes to the poor steelworker town...

KONTSCHALOWSKI dares to do something! As a film director from the Soviet Union, he dares to create a modern story about the Virgin Mary, which is supplemented by a very sensitive topic. There are not only attractive pictures of the beautiful Nastassja KINSKI to see. John SAVAGE in particular, who is best known from the exciting musical HAIR, had to film some intense scenes here. Some things make others ashamed, others - like the rat in the mouth - are really absolutely disgusting! But that makes this film something special, but one that you should consciously get involved with. This is not for the faint-hearted!

Other roles include the indestructible Robert MITCHUM, the sensual Anita MORRIS and the brilliant John GOODMAN. This remarkable film also had far-reaching consequences for the fabulous Nasti KINSKI. In real life, her actor colleague Vincent SPANO became the father of her first child.
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