Review: Humid regions – Feuchtgebiete (2013)

Directed by: David Wnendt | 105 minutes | drama, comedy | Actors: Carla Juri, Christoph Letkowski, Meret Becker, Axel Milberg, Marlen Kruse, Peri Baumeister, Edgar Selge, Harry Baer, ​​Fred Aaron Blake, Anna König, Christian Natter, Monika Obmalko, Amelie Plaas-Link, Florian Rummel, Pia Röver, Selam Tadese

Eighteen-year-old Helen Memel has had hemorrhoids for as long as she can remember, she tells us in the opening scene of “Humid regions”. Fortunately, there are remedies for that, so the tough skateboard star soon disappears into a public toilet, where the water reaches her ankles. The average woman would not yet enter this room wearing waders, let alone relieve herself, but the protagonist of the film adaptation of the German scandal novel ‘Feuchtgebiete’ by Charlotte Roche steps happily, and even barefoot, in to care for her hemorrhoids. . Then she inspects the toilet seat, on which a choice and color of micro-organisms can be found, beautifully and entertainingly portrayed by an animated scene. Helen Memel, nice.

Helen loves sex and the body fluids that go with it, she loves exploring her body and she doesn’t care about personal hygiene. Her intimate parts must have a scent, nice right, that attracts men! Her mother is quite the opposite, and that difference isn’t the only disruptive factor in the mother-daughter relationship. The divorce of her parents, the fanatical search for a religion that suits her mother, it is almost a miracle that Helen still lives at home. Fortunately, her friend Corinna is just as open-minded, although she sees a relationship with a drummer who asks if she wants to poop on his stomach during sex. She’d rather swap used tampons with Helen or use a mistaken load of drugs left behind by their dealer for the ultimate trip.

One bad day Helen gives herself an anal fissure with the wrong movement of her razor. Blood is running down her legs. On to the hospital, where an operation appears to be the solution. The presence of the handsome nurse Robin makes the stay a bit more pleasant and Helen soon manages to turn the conversation to oral sex. Robin is confused by the frankness of his patient, but is also charmed by it. A bond carefully develops, especially when Robin responds to Helen’s request to photograph her wound and to save the piece that was cut from her anus from the hospital waste. Helen tries to achieve her goal through Robin: her parents at the same time during visiting hours in her hospital room. After all, a reconciliation cannot be far away?

“Humid regions” is much easier to digest than Charlotte Roche’s book. While the book regularly crossed the boundaries of repugnance, Helen’s actions are comical here. This is not only due to the flawless rendition of the refreshing Carla Juri, who makes Helen above all a funny character, whom you will care about despite her unpleasantness. The comparison with Amélie Poulain has been mentioned before, but there is a grain of truth in it. The appointment of director David Wnendt (“Kriegerin”, 2011) also turns out to be a golden opportunity. He finds exactly the right tone to tell the recalcitrant story: with speed, humor, catchy music and playful effects. Of course you have to be able to withstand a little (menstruation) blood. And the thought of drinking vomit or eating a pizza on which a handful of men left a handful of sperm shouldn’t make you gag either. “Wet regions” contains more than enough comical scenes to make up for that filth, which is never used to shock. With poignant observations, “Humid regions” mainly paints a heart-touching story about a young woman who is looking for satisfaction from her failed childhood. And that is what, in addition to the humor, lasts the most afterwards. With a lead actress who simply rocks, and the film’s colorful visual style, “Wet Lots” is a hit.