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Eight Miles High

By Buzz McClain -- Video Business, 9/22/2008

MPI

Street: Oct. 28
Prebook: Sept. 22
> Sexy biopic of wild child supermodel and rock 'n’ roll party girl Uschi Obermaier.

The name Uschi Obermaier might not ring a bell, but in the late ’60s, she was the face of student rebellion in Germany, cavorting with radical intellectuals before exploiting her incredible beauty and overt sexuality to become an early supermodel. She also bedded rock icons Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Jimi Hendrix before marrying a reckless photographer, Dieter Bockhorn. This is all vividly depicted in Achim Bornhak’s adaptation of Obermaier’s recent autobiography. Polish actress Natalia Avelon absolutely captures the sensuous aura of the spellbinding man-eater, making it easy to believe Uschi led the fast-moving, globe-trotting life that’s described. The sexiest biopic to come along in quite some time, Eight Miles High contains a plethora of period hits from MC5, the Doobie Brothers and others.

Shelf Talk: A box-office success in Germany, this title benefits stateside from the Rolling Stones connection, with its spot-on impersonations by Victor Noren and Alexander Scheer as Mick and Keith, respectively. A three-city release this summer was supported by print and online advertising, and MPI says a national marketing and publicity campaign will attend the DVD rollout. Point out the title to those who snapped up Martin Scorsese’s Stones concert film Shine a Light as well as those who like biopics depicting rock 'n’ roll lifestyles and anything Germanic, sexy and/or psychedelic.

Biopic, color, NR (mature themes, nudity, sexual situations, language, drug use, violence), 114 min., DVD $24.98, German with English subtitles
Extras: featurette
Director: Achim Bornhak
First Run: L Int’l., July 2008, <$1 mil.

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