Berlinale Blogger 2017
Vanilla's thirst for violence

Improvised scenes and fast cutting with brief interludes of electronic music: „Tiger Girl“ by Jakob Lass is an alter-ego film à la „Fight Club“. Berlin's answer to „Kill Bill“ with a strong identity of its own. 

The film centres on the friendship between two women – the wild Tiger, parking attendant and master thief, and sweet-natured Margarete, who has begun training as a security guard. 

The taxi that is set to take Margarete and her potential lover home speeds off without him. At the wheel: Tiger. 
In a beautifully edited fight, Tiger sets upon four aggressors who are sexually harassing Margarete in the subway.
When the men gain the upper hand, their baseball bat rolls before Margarete's feet. She strikes. Vanilla the Killer is born. 
Ecstatic, the two women celebrate their victory over their assailants. 

With humour and charm, Tiger teaches her new friend to stand her ground.
In borrowed uniforms, they search passers-by. Sensitively deployed fast motion is reminiscent of how time flies. But Vanilla's thirst for violence takes on a life of its own. Together with two friends, she strikes out without Tiger. The set-up is reminiscent of Beate Zschäpe in the NSU terrorist organisation.
 

In the film's final scene, Vanilla sits at the wheel of the patrol car that Tiger is set to take to the police station and speeds off, reflecting the opening sequence.
Jakob Lass' third feature-length film releases me into the Berlin night, intoxicated.