Virgin Machine (KINO)
處女機器 (KINO)
An unusual search for romantic love
- Released
- 30 Sep 2026
- Runtime
- 86 min
- Certificate
- Category III
- Original title
- Die Jungfrauenmaschine
- Language
- en
The verdict
There are not yet enough audience votes to give this a reliable score. It is not currently playing in Hong Kong cinemas. Category III · 86 minutes.
What it is about
Dorothee Müller, a naive young Hamburg journalist, has grown tired of her pushy lover Heinz. She shares an unfulfillable longing with her gay half-brother Bruno. In all innocence, she embarks on an investigation into romantic love — is it a disease that only afflicts women? From a pleasure-seeking hormone researcher's office to the chimpanzee enclosure at the zoo, her search yields no satisfying answers. So she leaves the old world behind, trading grey Hamburg for sunny San Francisco. Shot in striking black-and-white, Monika Treut's 1988 underground classic is a joyful, quietly radical journey into desire that remains as fresh and provocative as ever.
What to expect
Dorothee Müller leaves Hamburg and a pushy boyfriend behind, chasing a question that won't let her go: is romantic love just a disease that targets women? Monika Treut shoots this 1988 journey in crisp black-and-white, moving from a hormone researcher's office to a zoo's chimp enclosure, then across the Atlantic to San Francisco. The movie drifts with a deadpan, dreamlike logic — less a thesis than a mood, restless and quietly funny. It carries a Category III certificate in Hong Kong, so only viewers 18 and above can attend. The KINO screening runs 86 minutes, in English with English and Chinese subtitles.
Cast
- Ina Blum Dorothee
- Marcelo Uriona Bruno, Dorothee's Brother
- Gad Klein Heinz, Dorothee's Ex-Boyfriend
- Peter Kern Hormone Specialist
- Hans-Christoph Blumenberg Telephone Caller
- Dominique Gaspar Dominique
- Susie Bright Susie Sexpert
- Shelly Mars Ramona
- Fritz Mikesch Man in the Backyard
- Wolfgang Raach Boat Sculler
- George Lannan Man in the Backayard
- Erica Marcus Landlady
- Rhonda Jarvis Woman on the Street
- Carla Wood Saivre Woman in Hotel Room
- Fakir Musafar Man in Hotel Room
Crew
- Director Monika Treut
- Writer Monika Treut
- Director of Photography Elfi Mikesch
- Editor Renate Merck
- Producer Eberhard Scharfenberg
- Producer Elfi Mikesch
- Producer Monika Treut
Common questions
- How long is the movie?
- 86 minutes.
- What is the Hong Kong certificate?
- Category III. Only viewers aged 18 and above can attend.
- What language is it in, and are there subtitles?
- English, with English and Chinese subtitles.
- Is this suitable for children?
- No. The Category III rating restricts it to adults.
