Never watch another Julia Roberts movie again forever and ever
I wanna holler atcha about this incredible VHS I dug up at a Salvation Army in South Pasadena: Zuckerbaby.
There really aren’t a lot of movies that have plus-size women as their protagonist, let alone with a female lead. And if they do, it’s usually something ridiculously redneck like Tammy or left-of-center like a John Waters vehicle. And there’s nothing wrong with John Waters, quite the contrary; but his work does not come to you, you very often have to go to it.
Basically, it’s hard to find a great role for a big girl. I’d say that Misery lands somewhere right in the middle, but that also just features an insane woman. Not exactly representing the type.
Zuckerbaby (translated as “Sugarbaby”) is a breath of fresh air because it empowers the kind of woman you would see in real life, taking her on an adventure that really is quite believable. It endures because of it’s latent simplicity in tone and structure, German new wave to the core.
The stone-faced Marianne Sagebrecht plays a mortician in a rut who falls in love with the voice of her train driver, hunts him down and then wins him over. Sagebrecht’s deadpan determination is the lump of grey that grounds director Percy Adlon’s washes of 80’s neon bliss. There are always light bulbs humming in this modern Germany, but the age-old lament of the stalwart, isolated maiden persists.
I would pit this character, in terms of lonerism with Miami Vice colors, against the eeksome Francis Dolarhyde of the film Manhunter. Where Dolarhyde builds tension with typical, albeit creepy, Floridian-American violence, Zuckerbaby’s Marianne quietly builds her reserves and accepts her forlorn fate as a matter of growth. I guess German women just do that whole heartbreak thing better.
I love Zuckerbaby because it really is a dark, subtle comedy that has you scratching your head the first time you watch it. You’re waiting for something more sinister to occur, and that’s what makes you an American viewer. The results are far more mechanical, logical and…well…German. Just take it in, enjoy Herr Adlon’s color chunks and watch it again when you’re ready.
See how I made it through an entire column about a woman who gets laid via desserts for a site called Comedy Cake and I didn’t correlate the two EVEN ONCE?! What a professional little VHS Mummy I am!
And you guys are lucky jerks! I’ve had to watch this on a blotchy old tape from 1985, but the whole thing is right here in decent quality on YouTube. Enjoy, and keep it tipped to the crypt:
CakeMama