Charlotte (Lilith Stangenberg), Helena (Mücke) and Oskar (Chang Wang) meet again after a long time and go on vacation together. But already at the airport, old arguments break out again. Things really escalate in “Forever 16” when all three fall in love with the same man. What sounds like a conventional drama turns out to be one of the weirdest films to be seen in cinemas this year. The directorial debut of Brezel Göring, shot with 16mm analog material and best known as one half of the synthpop duo Stereo Total, which disbanded in 2021, indulges uninhibitedly in the imperfect.
Blurring, uncertain camera work, film breaks, a jumpy plot and actors who sometimes look into the lens and speak the text off-screen, with little concern for lip synchronization – this mix leaves you sitting in front of the screen very irritated at first. But it quickly becomes clear that there is a method to the madness: The film, which is accompanied practically non-stop by total stereo music, is an anarchist trip that is characterized by a love of trash, mischief, joy in disguise, provocation and wild sound – and is sometimes reminiscent of Helge Schneider’s cinematic anarcho universe.
It’s stupid: Charlotte (Lilith Stangenberg), Helena (Mücke) and Oskar (Chang Wang) all fall in love with the same guy!
Charlotte, Helena and Oskar were close friends early on and made amateur films as “Enfants Terribles”. But then Charlotte left the group in a dispute and pursued a career in television. Helena and Oskar, on the other hand, are impoverished, and Helena also struggles with her alcohol addiction. After years of radio silence, they now want to try again and start a vacation paid for by Charlotte.
However, the old wounds quickly reopen and all three fall in love with Rudolph (Twiggy). The tensions only subside a little when they decide to revive their old passion and make an amateur crime thriller. But when Helena accidentally (or even intentionally) kills Rudolph, a little crime story takes place in reality – which brings the trio closer together again…
Film adaptation of a slightly different kind
No guarantee is explicitly given at this point for the correctness of the contents! “Forever 16” seems as if Stereo Total’s musical philosophy was transferred to a film and a lot was improvised accordingly. In other words, the emphasis is more on individual, often absurd moments than on the big picture. But conversely, this does not mean arbitrariness: the events revolve around motifs such as struggles with age and love and develop a certain feminist attitude as the running time increases.
Speaking of Stereo Total: It is advisable to first look into the band, whose unusual music is usually classified in the synthpop corner, but is much more complex and also draws on punk, garage rock, chanson, electro and lo-fi elements. Anyone who can’t do anything with the music – a total of 13 albums were released between 1995 and 2021 – has a bad chance here.
You can see in every shot that “Forever 16” was shot on 16mm material!
The film is closely linked to Stereo Total in other respects too. The script is based on the unfinished novel of the same name by Françoise Cactus. The work of the second half of the duo, who died in February 2021, was published by Ventil Verlag in 2024 as part of the text collection “Oh Oh Mythomanie”.
Cactus not only sang and played drums in the band – with a characteristic French accent – but was also Göring’s partner for almost 28 years. So “Forever 16” is a deeply personal matter; The character of Charlotte was probably influenced in some way by Cactus, as she was also a committed smoker.
Conclusion: Super weird comedy-drama with a Helge Schneider touch! Experimental, wonderfully playful – with lots and lots of music from exactly one band. And that’s exactly the crux of the matter: “Forever 16” isn’t necessarily aimed only at fans, but it certainly can’t hurt to familiarize yourself with Stereo Total beforehand – if you find access, you’ll get your money’s worth!