Two brothers in New York, Julian and Paul, have inherited a large sum of money that they proceed to spend at a similar rate. They share their apartment and their lives, like a modern variation on Truffaut’s Jules and Jim, with a pretty Danish blond who is staying illegally in the United States. This Nikki has the magic gift that, in the streets of New York, she can hear the cows moo in Denmark. The trio do make half-hearted efforts to keep their jobs, to which they are far from suited, but these are doomed to failure. Apart from that they live life to the full, until the bottom of the inherited treasure chest comes into view. Then thunder clouds start to gather over the threesome. They start to pick holes in each others characters; Julian’s fondness for gambling, Paul’s indecisiveness and Nikki’s dependence. When Nikki finds a young man who displays an interest in her, a trauma from her youth comes to the surface. It then becomes apparent that the trio’s former ‘life in paradise’ is more of a refusal to grow up.Murmann does not seem interested in making shocking allegations about life on earth. The charm of 15 Months in May is largely in the mise-en-scène, the spontaneity of the actors and the lack of pretensions.
