Goran Petrevski

The Nasty Girl is an excellent film in every respect: it is interesting, brave and funny. Its irony and satire are sharp as a knife criticizing the hypocrisy of the "polite and well-behaved" society. When faced with unpleasant issues, many people show their moral misery. Although the main character Sonja is supposed to be the misfit, it appears that the whole society is comprised of freaks, instead. The director shows much courage in dealing with such a delicate theme as the Nazi heritage of modern Germany.

The title of the film is pretty misleading since it is inspired by the short story "Kesa and Moritoo" by the Japanese writer Ryūnosuke Akutagawa. Anyway, the film rests with the typical Japanese aesthetics describing man-and-woman relationship that might seem somewhat unusual to the Western world audience. The film offers a story of a man whose love can lead to undesired consequences and of a faithful woman who sacrifices herself in order to protect her spouse's reputation. The whole film is focused on the two main characters - Kesa and Moritoo while the other characters do not contribute too much to the story.