The Fan

Simone is seventeen and writes to a singer. R. is a pop star seen on television. Simone waits for the post every day and no answer comes. She leaves school, does not speak to her family, and thinks of nothing but those letters. One day she learns he will be on a broadcast in Munich. She leaves home. She waits outside the studio and sees him. R. notices her and takes her along. They go to his flat. Simone lives the moment she imagined. Then he goes back to his work and wants her to leave. Eckhart Schmidt writes and directs. Désirée Nosbusch plays Simone and Bodo Staiger plays R. It is a German production, made in 1982. Bodo Staiger was a musician in fact; he came from the German electronic scene of the period and the songs in the film are his band's. Désirée Nosbusch was seventeen during the shoot and some scenes were argued over afterwards for that reason. The narrative keeps dialogue sparse; Simone's inner voice carries most of it. The matter it treats is obsession; the film shows fandom not as a feeling but as a state of isolation. The last section contains extreme violence and the film was banned or cut in many countries because of it. The image is cold and flat; the music runs continuously and sets the rhythm. The narrative criticises the pop industry too; the singer is empty and uninterested. Its limit is the watching; the ending is extreme, the subject uncomfortable, and the narrative cold. Who it is for: viewers who like eighties German cinema and cult horror. Who it is not for: the violence is extreme, it is uncomfortable, and the ending shattering.