Virgin Machine

Die Jungfrauenmaschine

West Germany

1988

84 Min

Black and White

1.37:1

English, German

Currently 3.1/5 Stars.
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PROD Elfi Mikesch, Monika Treut

CAST Ina Blum, Marcelo Uriona, Gad Klein, Peter Kern, Hans-Christoph Blumenberg, Dominique Gaspar, Susie Bright, Shelly Mars, Wolfgang Raach

MUSIC Pearl Harbour, Laibach, Mona Mur

SOUND Alf Olbrisch

Toronto, Berlinale (New German Films), Göteborg

Synopsis

Dorothee, a would-be writer and journalist, leaves Germany for the Oz of San Francisco, searching for her long-lost mother and a cure for the malady of love. Installed in the Tenderloin, she peeps in on neighbors’ bizarre sex rituals as well as does sightseeing of the more traditional kind. But encounters with male impersonator Ramona, charming Hungarian bohemian Dominique, and Susie Sexpert, barker for an all-girl strip show, lead to exploratory adventures of self-discovery and fun. When Dorothy surfaces like a dazzled tourist on the wilder shores of the city’s lesbian community, she has discovered her true sexuality… and left some illusions behind. —hyenafilms

Director

Monika Treut

Monika Treut, born April 6, 1954, in Mönchengladbach, made her high school exam at a state-run school for girls and subsequently started to study German studies and political science and graduated with a state examination in 1978.

From 1974 on, already during her studies, and until 1982, she worked at several media centres, for instance, in Marburg, Frankfurt, and in Berlin where she organized film screenings and was involved in the production of video documentaries.

In 1984, she did her PhD in Marburg with a thesis about the image of women in the writings of de Sade and Sacher-Masoch and became a doctor of philology. In the same year, she set up the production company “Hyäne I/II Filmproduktion” together with Elfie Mikesch in Hamburg.

One year later, Treut finished her debut film for the movie screen, the experimental feature film “Verführung: Die grausame Frau” (“Seduction: The Cruel Woman”) about the sadomasochistic experiences of a group of fairly different… read more

Monika Treut, born April 6, 1954, in Mönchengladbach, made her high school exam at a state-run school for girls and subsequently started to study German studies and political science and graduated with a state examination in 1978.

From 1974 on, already during her studies, and until 1982, she worked at several media centres, for instance, in Marburg, Frankfurt, and in Berlin where she organized film screenings and was involved in the production of video documentaries.

In 1984, she did her PhD in Marburg with a thesis about the image of women in the writings of de Sade and Sacher-Masoch and became a doctor of philology. In the same year, she set up the production company “Hyäne I/II Filmproduktion” together with Elfie Mikesch in Hamburg.

One year later, Treut finished her debut film for the movie screen, the experimental feature film “Verführung: Die grausame Frau” (“Seduction: The Cruel Woman”) about the sadomasochistic experiences of a group of fairly different people.

After working as an assistant director for Werner Schroeter at Schauspielhaus Düsseldorf in 1987, Treut finished her second feature-length film, the award-winning drama “Die Jungfrauenmaschine” (“Virgin Machine”, 1988). All of Treut’s documentary, experimental, and narrative films are influenced by a distinct feminist perspective and always deal with alternative gender roles and constellations.

After the award-winning comedy “My Father Is Coming” (1991), Treut focused on documentary films. In this department and produced by the production company “Hyena Films” that was set up in 1992, Treut finished several of her most important and partly award-winning films: “Gendernauts – Eine Reise durch die Geschlechter” (“Gendernauts: A Story Through Shifting”, 1999) about the phenomenon of trans-sexuality, “Kriegerin des Lichts” (“Warrior of Light”, 2001) about a female Brazilian street worker, and “Den Tigerfrauen wachsen Flügel” (“Tigerwomen Grow Wings”, 2005) about three generations of women in Taiwan. Besides her work as a filmmaker, Treut pursues numerous academic occupations, mainly in the USA. Over the years, film festivals all over the world have dedicated retrospectives to her work. In 2009, Monika Treut once again finished a feature film, “Ghosted”, a blend of a mystery drama and a love story. —filmportal.de

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