Milli Vanilli – that was Robert Pilatus (†33) and Fabrice Morvan (57). Her singing conquered the music world. But they only sang playback. A scandal that they could do nothing about. Because they actually wanted to sing themselves! Now, over 30 years later, the backgrounds are being examined on the big screen.
Elan Ben Ali (l.) and Tijan Njie take on the roles of the Milli Vanilli stars in the film
Photo: LEONINE Studios/Wiedemann & Berg Film/Denis Pernath
Two cinema newcomers and a superstar are on the big screen: Tijan Njie (previously known from the RTL formats “Alles was counts” and “Let’s Dance”) and Elan Ben Ali from France play Robert Pilatus and Fabrice Morvan, while Matthias Schweighöfer portrays the producer Frank Farian.
Milli Vanilli – the biggest fake band in the world
Robert Pilatus and Fabrice Morvan, together with music producer Frank Farian, became celebrated global stars. At the peak of their career they even won a Grammy!
A band from Germany that lands three number one hits in the USA – too good to be true? This was a reality at the end of the 80s. Even if the Milli Vanilli dream only lasted a few years. Because: They didn’t sing their hits themselves, but moved their lips to the singing of two other musicians. At first only a small circle was inaugurated, but in 1990 the music bomb exploded. And her own producer, of all people, revealed the truth.
1989: Fab Morvan (left) and Rob Pilatus performing in the USA
Foto: Getty Images
A cinematic story that has been made into a film and will be released in cinemas in December.
Milli Vanilli – Der Film
The biggest challenge for the film team was finding the right actors. It took a whole year of casting for this.
“A lot of the film takes place in Hollywood in the late 80s and early 90s, in the heart of the pop world. “It’s of course great fun to recreate this era for the screen, but it also means an enormous amount of effort,” said producer and Oscar winner Quirin Berg (“The Lives of Others”) to BILD.
“Girl You Know It’s True” can be seen in cinemas from December 21st. The director was Simon Verhoeven (“Welcome to the Hartmanns”)
Photo: LEONINE Studios and Wiedemann & Berg Film
A coup by the filmmakers was also crucial.
Berg to BILD: “For this film in particular, a lot of music rights had to be clarified in advance. For 20 years, many US companies have been trying to get exactly these rights and I am very happy that we were the first and only ones to succeed about four years ago.”
Matthias Schweighöfer in his role as Frank Farian
Photo: LEONINE Studios/Wiedemann & Berg Film/Gordon Timpen
Frank Farian – The mastermind
In addition to Milli Vanilli, the focus is on music producer Frank Farian, who founded the band – and scandalously broke it up again in 1990 with the confession that it was playback singing.
The trigger for the revelation was an appearance by Milli Vanilli at a concert for MTV on July 21, 1989 in the USA. The two men performed in front of 20,000 fans. When they performed their hit song “Girl You Know It’s True,” there was a problem with the hard drive. The recording got stuck in the chorus and repeated itself several times.
“I knew immediately that it was the beginning of the end for Milli Vanilli,” Pilatus confessed to the Los Angeles Times in November 1990. “When my voice got stuck on the computer and kept repeating, I panicked. I just ran off the stage.”
Following this revelation, Milli Vanilli was even stripped of the Grammy Award for Best New Artist by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. The band was history for the two musicians, but Frank Farian remained successful and continued to market Milli Vanilli under the name The Real Milli Vanilli – with Ray Horton and John Davis, two of the original singers of the band’s hits, as lead singers.
1988: Producer Frank Farian and Milli Vanilli in Munich. The band’s global career started here
Foto: ddp / United Archives
In the film, Farian is played by Matthias Schweighöfer. According to Quirin Berg, the star was immediately enthusiastic about his role.
Berg to BILD: “For Simon Verhoeven and me, Matthias was the perfect fit right from the start, long before I called Matthias. That’s why I was very relieved that he freaked out after my first two sentences and immediately said: ‘I have to play the legendary music producer Frank Farian!'”
There has not yet been a personal meeting between Schweighöfer and Farian.
Berg: “Matthias worked incredibly hard into the role, studying Frank down to the last detail, there is a lot of material from him. Unfortunately, a meeting couldn’t take place at the time because of Corona, also because Frank lives in Miami. Matthias delivers this role excellently and those were Frank Farian’s first words when he saw the film for the first time. If Frank is able to come to the premiere, they will actually meet for the first time.”
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2023-10-09 12:01:22
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