Honolulu (2001)

Want to see half a dozen German movie stars on the rise? Check this one out. Many members of the "Honolulu" cast have since become award-winning household names, among them Daniel Brühl, Alexandra Maria Lara and Julia Hummer, to name but the most prominent. What is more, most of the film's seven episodes have just the right mix of realism and fairy tale to keep you engaged. The bits and pieces are tied together by the cross-episode device of an overland coach, Honolulu bound. No doubt the Duke would approve. The voyage is set in an enigmatic nowhere land between the grim reality of rural Bavaria and the wide open spaces of adolescence. Far from revolutionary, the movie's message comes down to "being young isn't all it's cracked up to be, so you'd better seize the day". "Honolulu" doesn't stand out by its motif or message, but by its reflective, yet mildly optimistic mood, enhanced by a fine Electro-Folk soundtrack, featuring the likes of Princessa and fabulous Stereoblonde, chirping away in the wake of Kristin Hersh and the Sugababes.