neumu [ cinematronic ]




	Naked
	Doris Dörrie Heike Makatsch, Benno Fürmann, Alexandra Maria Lara, Jürgen Vogel, Nina Hoss, Mehmet Kurtulus 2002		German filmmaker Doris Dörrie ("Enlightenment Guaranteed," "Me and Him") has made her most straightforward, commercial feature with "Naked." It's a comical, somewhat critical character study of the relationship between three modern couples in various states of romantic entanglement. Written and directed by Dörrie, it's like a sweet-and-sauerbraten version of the popular U.S. sitcom "Friends," after the chirpy glow fades. The financially struggling Emilia (Heike Makatsch) and Felix (Benno Fürmann) have been unhappily broken up for a short while, but they decide to join their old crowd — the seemingly idyllic pair Annette (Alexandra Maria Lara) and Boris (Jürgen Vogel) and well-to-do host and hostess Charlotte (Nina Hoss) and Dylan (Mehmet Kurtulus) — for a dinner party held at nouveau-riche Dylan's high-tech home. Emilia and Felix are embittered, but things aren't so peachy with the "happy" couples, either. As the evening gets wilder, everyone gets looser and true feelings begin to surface, leading to an unusual, revelatory game played in the nude. "Naked" deftly and amusingly strips away the sextet's pretensions.