One of the most enduring European ethnic stereotypes deprives Germans of any sense of humour. German film industry or, to be precise, the way in which it is perceived outside German borders, conforms to that stereotype. Best known film makers of Germany, classic and modern alike, aren't those whose films are going to leave viewer with a smile on his face. Because of that, occasions when non-German audiences can watch German comedies are rather rare. One of those occasions came with *Nur aus Liebe* a.k.a. *Dangerous Dowry*, 1996 action comedy written and directed by Denis Satin.
Protagonist of the film is Ella (played by Katja Riemann), struggling Berlin artist who is forced to work as taxi driver in order to make ends meet. Chance encounter with Aleksej (played by Hannes Jaenicke), young Russian businessman, leads to an interesting offer. Aleksej needs German citizenship so he offers 100,000 DM to Ella in exchange for quick sham marriage. Ella agrees, not knowing that Aleksej's business involves smuggling nuclear material from former Soviet Union and that Jewgenij (played by Heinz Hoenig), her future brother-in-law, happens to be the boss of the most dangerous Russian mob organisation. Ella, of course, doesn't know that Aleksej stole millions of DMs from Jewgenij's coffers and that she is going to deal with Jewgenij's goons. Carmen (played by Daniela Lukowitz), Ella's thoughtless roommate, would make things even harder for Ella.
*Dangerous Dowry* is not going to cause laugh riots and its ending shows that this film is made with significantly less budget than films of the same type. But director Denis Satin knows how to compensate for those flaws with few clever action scenes and some interesting observations on the state of affairs in post-Cold War Germany and Eastern Europe. But the best assets of this film is comic talent of Katja Riemann which, combined with the looks of Daniela Lukowitz (best known for her role of Aliyah in *Children of Dune* mini-series) makes *Dangerous Dowry* into very entertaining experience for all the viewers willing to think beyond stereotypes.
RATING: 5/10 (++)
*(Note: The text in its original form was posted in Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.films.reviews on February 19th 2004)*
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