TIGERMILCH/ TIGER MILK
Germany, 2017, 106 minutes, Colour.
Flora Thiemann, Emily Kusche, David Ali Rashed, Narges Rashidi, Emil Belton, August Carter, Eva Lobau.
Directed by Ute Wieland.
A story of two girls, mid-teens, living in the German city. Nini is German, Jameela has migrated with her mother from Iraq. The film spends a great deal of time, which may be irritating to a number of adults, although should be challenging to parents about bringing up children and supervision and what they are getting up to, detailing the activities of the two girls.
The title is symbolic, a drink that they concoct, soft drink with the addition of brandy, a drink which helps them to think of themselves as more adult. They are smokers. And, at this stage of their life, especially with the summer holiday coming up, they decide that they should experience “defloration� and choose the two boyfriends with whom this will happen.
There are some school sequences and a sympathetic teacher and they sometimes mock but who does come to their help at various times.
On the serious side, Jameela’s mother has not filled in migrant documentation well, her daughter neglecting to look at the details and timetable. The mother has gone back to Iraq for the burial of her mother but did so without telling the authorities. Matters become very serious with more documentation, Jameela are going to a storekeeper who had offered to help with the documentation but they have neglected to follow his advice and he warns them that they will be deported.
In the meantime, there are scenes between the boys and girls, ups and downs in relationships, Jameela disappointed with the fickleness of her boyfriend, the two girls falling out but eventually being reconciled. And the film ends with the mother and daughter going to the airport to board the plane back to Iraq with Nini running to the fence, the two girls with a sad farewell.
On the one hand, one of those films about teenage girls, the consequences of puberty, their trying to deal with issues but experiencing their immaturity. On the other hand, there are elements of migration problems in contemporary Germany.
