PRETTY BABY

It's not a CIFF tribute to Louis Malle (not a bad idea, though), but a new screwball farce of sexual confusion and frustration. A more apt title might be “When Axel Met Norbert.” He's a handsome, good-natured – if not terribly bright – young photographer, irresistible to women and attracted to all of them. And he's a fastidious vegetarian and part-time drag queen on the lookout for Mr. Right. When Axel's infidelity gets him thrown out by his girlfriend Doro, he moves in with some old friends, now openly gay, who lead him to Norbert's flat. Norbert quietly longs for Axel, but this modern Adonis is as straight as a plank and about as thick. Then Doro wants Axel back. Her aghast reaction at his roommate situation ignites the fuse on a raunchy comedy of errors that leaves no gender unskewered and has become a popular hit in its native Germany, with Hollywood reportedly stalking for remake rights. See what all the fuss is about – and beware of that parrot! In German with English subtitles. – Charles Cassady