| Das Wilde Leben | |
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Original movie poster |
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| Directed by | Achim Bornhak |
| Produced by | Ralph Brosche |
| Written by | Dagmar Benke, Achim Bornhak, Claus Hant, Olaf Kraemer, Uschi Obermaier |
| Starring | Natalia Avelon |
| Cinematography | Benjamin Dernbecher |
| Editing by | Peter Przygodda |
| Studio | Warner Bros. |
| Release date(s) | February 1, 2007 |
| Running time | 114 min. |
| Country | Germany |
| Language | German |
Das Wilde Leben (lit. The Wild Life, released as Eight Miles High in English-speaking countries) is a German biographical motion picture, set in the 1960s and depicting the "wild life" of Uschi Obermaier, a German groupie.
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Obermaier enjoyed sexual freedom at the legendary Kommune 1 in Berlin after being with the krautrock band, Amon Düül. In the Kommune, she becomes friendly with Rainer Langhans. The young woman from Munich gains employment as a model, and becomes a sex symbol and youth icon. Now a cover girl in Playboy magazine, she meets rock stars such as Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, while Italian film producer, Carlo Ponti, offers her a ten-year contract, but she declines: her freedom is more important than a contract.
During her intensive relationship with Keith Richards, she begins to recognize the dark side of the shiny glamour world she lives in: the isolation of the stars, and the groupie-populated milieux of anonymous hotel rooms — this is not her idea of life.
She finds new freedom in a relationship with the adventurer Dieter Bockhorn (David Scheller). They fall in love and go on a six-year road trip around the world. Later, Bockhorn dies in a motorcycle accident in Mexico.
Ville Valo and Natalia Avelon recorded a cover version of the Nancy Sinatra/Lee Hazelwood song Summer Wine for the soundtrack. A music video was also shot, featuring Valo and Avelon with the real Uschi Obermaier.