Transpapa ( Trans papa )

Transpapa (DVD) (*)

Out of Stock

Alternate Title: Trans papa
Screened, competed or awarded at:
Other Film Festival Awards

Language Selections:
English ( Subtitles )
German ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )
German ( Dolby Digital 5.1 )

Product Origin/Format:
Germany ( PAL/Region 0 )

Running Time:
93 min

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen (1.85:1)

Special Features:
Commentary
Interactive Menu
Scene Access
Trailer(s)

Movie filmed in 2012 and produced in:
Germany ( Germany, Central Europe )

Directed By:
Sarah-Judith Mettke

Written By:
Sarah-Judith Mettke

Actors:
Luisa Sappelt ..... Maren
Devid Striesow ..... Sophia
Sandra Borgmann ..... Ulrike
Horst Sachtleben ..... Wolfgang
Florence Kasumba ..... Tessi
Fritzi Haberlandt ..... Silke
Ron Holzschuh ..... Christian
Damian Hardung ..... Christopher
Henriette Nagel ..... Zora
Noe Marie Vondey ..... Anne-Marta, Christians Tochter

Synopsis:

How does a teenage girl react when told that the father she hasn't seen for years is now living as a woman? Sarah-Judith Mettke's impressive first feature deals with the confronting situation facing Maren, a troubled teen whose divorced mother Ulrike has hidden the truth about ex-husband Bernd… until now. Feeling unsure about her own sexuality after being dropped by her boyfriend for being frigid, Maren decides she is ready and willing to see her father again. But Bernd no longer exists and no amount of preparation can prevent Maren from reacting badly to the sight of 'Sophia'. In the course of Maren's visit to Sophia's house their relationship undergoes tumultuous change that brings forth feelings of love, hate, guilt and forces both to look unflinchingly at themselves. Distinguished by excellent performances by Luisa Sappelt and David Striesow, Transpapa is told with grace, compassion and well-judged shots of humour.

Is it just a sign of the times, or is the idea of one of your parents changing their gender not as confronting as it used to be? There has to be some explanation for why a film brimming with potential cross-generational conflict is so tedious. Transpapa tells the story of Berlin teenager, Maren (Luisa Sappelt), who is suddenly reunited with her father whose current incarnation is as a post-op transsexual woman known as Sophie (David Striesow). Fed up with her smug birth mother and needing money for a driver's license, Maren seeks out her long absent parent. Determined to ignore the obvious, Maren hopes to squeeze the required cash out of him/her, while the pair spend a week together in the Köln house where Sophie works as a housekeeper. Maren is emotionally shut down, so when Sophie offers to answer any questions about her transformation, the teenager is not really interested. Instead she plays the miserable and embarrassed adolescent to the hilt. Unfortunately, this means that Transpapa remains a blandly filmed kitchen sink drama and feels like just one long adolescent pout. Gradually, more details about Sophie's new life emerge - some of them are even less palatable to Maren than having a transsexual for a parent. But dramatically speaking, few of these details are surprising, let alone shocking. The difficulty for Sophie is that, she must accept aspects of her previous life - a life she's rejected - if she is going to reconnect with the daughter who knew her as another person. Bonding over cigarettes and joints helps the relationship a bit, but not the drama which shuffles dully forward to a pre-ordained denouement. It seems that with her feature debut writer/director Sarah-Judith Mettke is quite lost with what to do with all that extra time that she has to fill in comparison to the short films she has made previously in her film career. The only surprise in the whole story is the impulsive pilfering and swallowing by Maren of Sophie's hormone tablets. This makes for a couple of interesting developments but raises the question of Maren's allegedly repressed personality. Before Maren is aware of her father's post-op status, the film opens with scenes that imply that Maren is not just emotionally hindered, but sexually stunted as well. From the early moment she refuses to perform fellatio on a self-centered boy or slightly later, objects to the sounds of her mother (Sandra Borgmann) making love to her live-in boyfriend; the film implies Maren's inability to accept her own body is at the source of her disgruntlement. Sappelt gives an authentic performance as Maren as written, but her character arc doesn't ring true, nor does it seem desirable - even if the film invites us to nod agreeably at its jokey finale. The film suggests - in partial jest - that Maren embrace her own femininity - just as her father has done. But its definition of the feminine is shallow and perhaps hints that the real reason for the dullness of Transpapa is that it plays at being radical, but in fact is inherently conservative.

This product was added to our catalog on Thursday 19 December, 2013.

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