Horst in Translation ([email protected])
"Ich bin meine eigene Frau" or "I Am My Own Woman" is a German 90-minute movie from 1992, so this one has its 25th anniversary this year. The director is Rosa von Praunheim, perhaps a name to German film buffs at least, and he is also one of the writers contributing here. The original story, however, is of course by Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, who is not only a writer here, but also the central character. It is a man called Lothar who decided that he is a woman inside and thus spends his/her life in woman's clothing without wanting to have any gender-correcting operations done. von Mahlsdorf led a pretty memorable life starting with the relationship to her parents during her early days as well as the impact the Nazis had on her life back then. The time of life in the GDR isn't any less interesting. This documentary is basically full with re-enactments from the main character's younger years, but also from her later years in which CvM plays herself. The dialogues are interesting and may put a smile on your lips, especially when it comes that we see those people critical about or confused by Charlotte. We also find out about her professional life and involvement in culture here in Berlin. The film includes barely interviews like a traditional documentary, but if you know a bit about Rosa von Praunheim, then you also know that he is the exact opposite of a generic (documentary) filmmaker. I cannot deny that as a result of that I found some of the works I have seen from him pretty horrible admittedly. But I enjoyed this one here, which may have to do more with the person this is about than with the person who made it but still. Nonetheless I somehow feel that I am not sure if the character had really been done justice. I think this could easily have been a much more interesting, touching and entertainingly relevant biopic with a better approach perhaps or better execution. Still it is a good outcome overall and we should be glad about every person who sees this and helps in keeping Charlotte von Mahlsdorf from sinking into oblivion 15 years after her death. May she rest in peace. Go see it if you have a chance. It's actually fairly difficult to get a hand on a copy here. But it really shouldn't be.
Jan Spaapen
I AM MY OWN WOMAN is one of Rosa von Praunheim's best films. A biography about famed Berlin transvestite/transgendered Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, the film blends the shock-value elements of Praunheim's early underground career, his mid career "mockumentary" phase (NEUROSIA), and his present more mainstream career (EINSTEIN OF SEX, also a biography, but not as a documentary). The film uses Tima die Gottliche (Tima, the God-like) a famed Berlin-scene entertainer, as the young von Mahlsdorf. If you like Tima by the way, who pretty much lives up to his/her name when performing, see NEUROSIA, and EINSTEIN...There are many similarities shared here by the director, lead actor, and the subject of the film. All three are Berlin-spawned male artists, using female names, and two of them take their surnames from the mediocre suburbs they come from (Mahlsdorf and Praunheim). Charlotte, from the sleepy East Berlin suburb of Mahlsdorf, was like von Praunheim a pioneering figure, but in Communist East Germany, arguably a more formidable feat. She succeeded, during the DDR (East German) period, in saving one of East Berlin's most beautiful surviving palaces from being razed having fallen in total decay after the war, and also preserved the entire contents of East Berlin's first (and only for many years) gay bar, after the DDR government closed the bar, and moved to demolish the building. Its contents are now in a museum in Mahlsdorf. Charlotte, however, had to leave Mahlsdorf, Berlin, and indeed Germany, to flee from the unwanted notoriety this film gave her. She now lives in a town of Sweden, but even there has been reportedly harassed by persevering tourists. See this film to see why Charlotte became such a a living legend, definitely her own woman. The movie is also vintage von Praunheim, and a good peek at Tima's talents. But Charlotte's star shines through, as it should.
