SUPERMARKT

Roland Klick’s cult film from 1974 is extremely critical of consumerism and has lost none of its force or relevance today. 18-year-old Willi lives on the streets in a big city. He is looking for love, but everyone wants to buy him. He meets people like Frank, a journalist who wants to help him, and Theo, a sleazy hustler who wants to pimp him out. Willi then meets the sex-worker Monika, who is even worse off than he is. He tries to help her because she doesn’t want anything from him and he can give her something. In order to escape hardship with her and her young son, Willi allows himself to become involved in the armed robbery of a supermarket cash delivery. ‘Supermarkt’ is an action film, social drama and melodrama, all rolled into one. Eva Mattes, who will premiere her latest theatre project at Kunstfest’s opening, played one of her first leading roles in ‘Supermarkt’ at the age of 19. Working behind the camera was the then still unknown Jost Vacano, who would later be responsible for the spectacular camerawork on Wolfgang Petersen’s ‘Das Boot’ (1981/1997) and go on to a distinguished Hollywood career with Paul Verhoeven. The title song was Marius Müller-Westernhagen’s first single, ‘Celebration’. He also provided the voice for the lead actor Charly Wierzejewski. For his third film, following ‘Bübchen’ (1968) and ‘Deadlock’ (1970), Roland Klick was awarded the 1974 Filmband in Gold for Best Director. To mark the film’s 50th anniversary, it was shown as a retrospective at this year’s Berlinale.

After the screening, Eva Mattes and Kunstfest Director Rolf C. Hemke will discuss the film.