Bandits (1997 film)

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A German film, a bit like Thelma and Louise with music! Four female convicts form a band as part of a criminal rehabilitation program their prison is testing out. The band — the Bandits — get a chance to perform at a police event outside the prison, but after one member impulsively attacks the Jerkass cop who rides with them to the ball, they stage an escape. Broke and on the run, they ship their demo out to a record company and soon find themselves cult idols.

The band members are:

• Luna (Jasmin Tabatabai), lead vocalist. In prison for armed robbery, she's the quick-tempered leader of the group.
• Angel (Nicolette Krebitz), In prison for bigamy and fraud, and alluring if a bit naive.
• Marie (Jutta Hoffmann). In prison for poisoning her husband, she's much older than the others, and her time in prison has made her suicidal.
• Emma (Katja Riemann), drummer. She joins the band after shooting a man in her jazz band who beat her and caused her to miscarry.

All the music in the film, incidentally, was written and performed by the actresses themselves.

Not to be confused with the other film called Bandits, starring Bruce Willis and Billy Bob Thornton.

Tropes used in Bandits (1997 film) include:

• Asshole Victim: It's pretty hard to feel sorry for the cop who transports the band to prison. Or the guys shooting puppies.
• Bolivian Army Ending: Did the women board the ship? Did they get captured? Or shot? We don't know!
• Crowning Music of Awesome: All of it, but the final rooftop performance has to be a standout of some sort.
• Mr. Fanservice: In universe, West. Out of universe, Werner Schreyer.
• Four-Temperament Ensemble: Angel is sanguine, Luna is choleric, Marie is melancholic and Emma is phlegmatic.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Don't piss Luna off.
• If My Calculations Are Correct: One of the cops is fond of reassuring the others with, "You know, 40% of female convicts return to prison when they run away..."
• Infant Immortality: Averted; some guys in a field are out shooting puppies for fun. The band doesn't like this very much.