Stratosphere Girl (2004)

I purchased "Stratosphere Girl" after seeing the trailer, and thinking how strangely beautiful the main actress was. Model/actress Chloe Winkel has an extraordinary look, and it transfers well to the movie screen. She leaves quite an impression in a film that is equally appealing to the eye, on many levels. The bizarre story centers on a young Danish girl with a wonderful talent for drawing comic book style "manga" pictures of everything she sees, and everyone who she encounters while living her bizarre life. Upon the recommendation from her dee-jay boyfriend, Angela flies to Tokyo, and winds up working in a shady "hostess bar" , where attractive white girls mingle with wealthy Japanese men. Once there, Angela finds herself in the middle of a mystery; another girl, from Russia, was living in the flat she now shares with some very bitchy girls. She disappeared without a trace, and Angela becomes obsessed with finding out what happened to the girl. More than a mystery, this seems to be more of a character study, about jealousy and competition among girls. Her co-workers are quite envious of the young, gorgeous Angela, and rightfully so, as they can't hold a candle to this girls translucent, hypnotic beauty. Don't expect to be too entertained with the mystery angle, as somehow the director has made something that should by all rights be fascinating, into something very slow, and just a bit boring. However I am recommending this film, for it does have much to offer. There is some truly inspired camera work; the film is very stylish. There are those wonderful shots of Tokyo, a city that is always fascinating and mysterious; it all possesses this dreamlike quality. If nothing else, see it for the gorgeous Chloe Winkel; I can't say enough about this girl. Her acting abilities aren't particularly strong, but when she is on screen, (at least in my opinion), it didn't really matter what was happening. Director M.X. Oberg pieces together the film with comic strip images, suggesting that the whole movie is basically a comic book come to life. This makes sense, as what is happening on screen is just too weird for real life. Others have complained about the ending, saying it is a letdown. Personally i thought it was very nice, and quite unique: Angela's suspicions about a grisly murder, and a city filled with corrupt, evil people, turn out to be a mere product of her vivid, artists imagination. The ending is sweet, when she finds out that she was wrong, and the men that she suspected of such evil things offer her a job, as a comic book artist, which is what she dreamed of doing. The ending wraps up so perfectly and sweetly, exactly like the comic books that the film actually is. I am happy to have seen this film, and it is good enough for repeat viewings. Apparently there is a longer version, available in Holland I believe, that is 10 minutes longer. I can't help but wonder what is missing from my German DVD, that runs 81 minutes... Anyway, I recommend "Stratosphere Girl" to those who can appreciate beauty over substance.

Well, it's actually not a movie about a foreign cartoonist in Japan.I watched this movie during JIFFEST 2004 (Jakarta Int'l Film Festival). A foreign girl left her country for Japan, hoping to find a new life. Back in her city, she had a Japanese boyfriend. He often told stories about Japan, and it made her interested. This girl loved to draw anything, especially things that happened around her, into panels. So it's very close to a comic.In Japan, I forgot what city, she shared an apartment with other foreign girls. Most (if not all) work in a nightclub. She also worked in the same club, for a living. While she's there, she drew many scenes based on what happened around her. And then something terrible happened...and she made her own investigation...and drew her findings/ imagination/ etc into papers.What I love about Stratosphere Girl is the ability to portrait a very nice-looking innocent girl, with a very imaginative mind, into a world of deception, crime, illegal foreign workers life in Japan. She followed her instincts to follow the mystery, although it would endanger her life.The cinematography was very good, and I really like the way it shot night-life in Japan. Her drawings (I don't know if it's actually her drawing, or the director have it for her) were very beautiful, only using colored pencils (if I'm not mistaken). I wished those drawings were available commercially as a comic book.This movie could fall into a thriller category, not just drama. I wished the director could made this movie more thrilling. But this is not a Hollywood movie=), but the director thrilled us in a different way.

No one will ever confuse this as being another "Lost in Translation" but I'm personally intrigued by just about any film that takes place in Japan and if you throw in a young actress that could stop traffic with her looks than it would be practically impossible for me not to give it a recommendation. Story is about an 18 year old Belgian beauty named Angela (Chloe Winkel) who's an aspiring artist and bored with her life until she meets and falls in love with a Japanese DJ named Yamamoto (Jon Yang) who tells her that he can get her a job in Tokyo working as a hostess in a bar. In no time Angela packs her bags and without telling her parents she jumps on an airplane and heads to Japan.*****SPOILER ALERT***** Angela arrives in Tokyo and has a hard time convincing Papa-San (Bert Kwouk) to hire her but after a scuffle with another girl she gains the attention of the bar's clientèle. With her young looks she becomes the most popular hostess in the establishment but Angela also has a hard time with the other hostesses who think that she's taking away their tip money and they strike back by putting glue in her shampoo and broken glass in her soup. Angela also starts a mini investigation in the disappearance of a former hostess named Larissa (Peggy Jane De Schepper) who is presumed dead but when she starts to ask questions everyone keeps quiet and act as if they don't know anything.This is the third film directed by Matthias X. Oberg and it's still hard to determine how talented a filmmaker he actually is although it's clear he's not what you would call a commercial director and he's shown a penchant to take on provocative stories. To Oberg's credit he gives his film a visual quality by having certain scenes shift from Angela's drawings to what's actually taking place and he also creates a sort of dreamlike mood that has a definite resonance especially with the quiet narration that is spoken. Okay, now that I've detailed the technical aspects that stand out in this film the real reason to watch this is to gawk at the screen debut of Chloe Winkel who possesses beauty that's just darn right rare! Winkel is a model who has taken acting classes and was spotted in a school play(!) when she was cast in this film and like Ewa Aulin from "Candy" she has the definitive nymphet quality that seemingly absorbs the screen she's inhabiting. This film has some sort of mystery in the story but as I continued to watch I kept thinking "who cares" because I just couldn't keep my eyes off of this beautiful creature and let's give Oberg credit again for casting this total unknown in the lead role. Nice job! I'm the first to admit that she really doesn't act here and I don't know if she can act at all but she definitely has a screen presence that can't be taught and I'll make it my mission in life to follow her career for as long as she continues to appear in films. This film is moderately interesting and maybe one day Oberg will become an important director but the real reason to view this film is because of the debut of the luscious Winkel.

To me, the Stratosphere Girl is the perfect balance between suspense, love story and comic. And the the pictures! Every little scene has been carefully built to reach maximum optical effect. There are so many details to discover that seeing the movie once is not enough. I love this film! There, that is as simple as I can make it out. I am not going into any details about the plot or what takes place in the film, just want to say that this is the real deal. The film manages to carry a thin story with almost no plot whatsoever and be consistently interesting and entertaining throughout. On top of that it is all stunningly photographed. This picture is a must for every true movie fan.