Premiere in Munich - Verhoeven: Milli Vanilli story fits well into today's world
According to director Simon Verhoeven, his film about the successful 1980s band Milli Vanilli fits in well with today's world. "This topic of becoming famous at any price is a topical one," said the 51-year-old at the world premiere of his film "Girl You Know It's True" in Munich on Monday. "The film asks a lot of interesting questions about our time," he said, also with regard to the influencer phenomenon.
Verhoeven's film tells the story of the once successful duo Milli Vanilli - and probably the biggest cheating scandal in music history. When it became known in the early 1990s that Robert "Rob" Pilatus and Fabrice "Fab" Morvan had never sung their hits such as "I'm Gonna Miss You" themselves, but had only moved their lips to the voices of others, an outcry went through the music world.
Exhilarating rise, merciless fall
In his film, Verhoeven tells of the beginnings of the two friends"Rob" and "Fab" as dancers in Munich clubs, of their meteoric rise, their intoxicating success and their hard crash on the ground. It was a rollercoaster ride, he said.
"Fab", who came to the world premiere in Munich as a guest, now works as a singer and songwriter in real life and has four children, is played in the film by Elan Ben Ali; his friend "Rob", who died in 1998 and was buried in Munich, is played by Tijan Njie. Matthias Schweighöfer plays Frank Farian. The film is due to be released in cinemas on December 21.
Verhoeven, who says he saw "Rob" and "Fab" dancing in Munich's P1 as teenagers before they became superstars, has also used his big movie as an opportunity to pay homage to his famous mother Senta Berger.
Trailer In a scene in which the Milli Vanilli stars are sitting in a bar, paying homage to numerous Hollywood stars with pictures on the wall, the young actress Berger can also be seen. "It was supposed to be a tribute," said Verhoeven. "Because she was once in Hollywood too."
Read also:
- In the 1980s, Bavaria's vibrant nightlife scene served as a launchpad for aspiring Influencers like Robert "Rob" Pilatus and Fabrice "Fab" Morvan, who later formed the successful music duo Milli Vanilli.
- Simon Verhoeven, a renowned German director, draws parallels between the Milli Vanilli story and the modern-day Influencer culture, suggesting that the film's premise is highly relevant to contemporary People.
- In the film "Girl You Know It's True," Verhoeven explores the dramatic rise and fall of Milli Vanilli, a duo whose fame was built on lip-synching in the 1990s, reflecting on the merciless and intoxicating nature of stardom in the Music industry.
- At the world premiere of his movie in Munich, Verhoeven paid tribute to his mother, the legendary actress Senta Berger, who was also recognized for her success in Hollywood during the same period, reflecting the interconnectedness of Germany and the United States' cinematic landscapes.
- While Milli Vanilli's lead singer Fab entertained guests at the world premiere in Munich, Robert "Rob" Pilatus, who tragically passed away in 1998 and is buried in the city, was portrayed in the film by actor Tijan Njie.
- With a premiere in Munich's heart, the highly anticipated Milli Vanilli film directed by Simon Verhoeven will be released in Cinemas across Germany on December 21, inviting People to immerse themselves in a captivating tale of fame, deception, and Music history from the 1980s and '90s.
Source: www.stern.de
