SUGARBABY Movie Review

Zuckerbaby

Marianne (Marianne Sägebrect) is a hefty, lonely mortuary attendant living in Munich who falls for a young, handsome subway conductor (Eisi Gulp). When she's not dolling herself up, Marianne spends her time tracking down the man of her dreams, stalking and staking out trains and stations to discover who he is, where he lives, and how she can make him fall in love with her. The candy-colored, neon-lit stylization of Johanna Heer's cinematography is amusing but distracting; the real attraction in director Percy Adlon's fable is Sägebrect's sweet, poignant performance, and all the unnecessary expressionist trappings—which suggest the director's lack of confidence in his material—just keep getting in the way. The director and star would team up again for Bagdad Cafe and Rosalie Goes Shopping.

NEXT STOP … Céleste, Ali: Fear Eats the Soul, Too Beautiful for You

1985 (R) 103m/C GE Marianne Saegebrecht, Eisi Gulp, Toni Berger, Will Spendler, Manuela Denz; D: Percy Adlon; W: Percy Adlon. VHS ORI, GLV, KIV