Christiane F. (1981)

This movie portrays the drug scene in Berlin in the 1970s, following tape recordings of Christiane F. 14-year-old Christiane lives with her mother and little sister in a typical multi-story... See full summary »

Director:

Uli Edel (as Ulrich Edel)

Writers:

Uli Edel (additional writer), Kai Hermann (book)

Stars:

Natja Brunckhorst, Eberhard Auriga, Peggy Bussieck

2 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Eberhard Auriga	...	Alter Fixer
Natja Brunckhorst	...	Christiane
Peggy Bussieck	...	Puppi
Lothar Chamski	...	Rolf
Rainer Woelk	...	Leiche (as Rainer Wölk)
Uwe Diderich	...	Klaus
Jan Georg Effler	...	Bernd
Ellen Esser	...	Kessis Mutter
Andreas Fuhrmann	...	Atze
Thomas Haustein	...	Detlev
Lutz Hemmerling	...	Bienenstich
Daniela Jaeger	...	Kessi
Bernhard Janson	...	Milan
Jens Kuphal	...	Axel
Christiane Lechle	...	Christianes Mutter

Storyline

This movie portrays the drug scene in Berlin in the 1970s, following tape recordings of Christiane F. 14-year-old Christiane lives with her mother and little sister in a typical multi-story apartment building in Berlin. She's fascinated by 'The Sound', a new disco with the most modern equipment. Although legally she's too young, she asks a friend to take her. There, she meets Detlef, who's in a clique where everybody's on drugs. Step by step she gets drawn deeper into the scene.

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Plot Keywords:

drugs | heroin | night life | dying young | west berlin west germany | 

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Taglines:

At 12 it was Angel Dust. At 13 it was heroin. Then she took to the streets.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Official Sites:

Distributor's official website for private individuals Distributor's official website for professionnals

Country:

West Germany

Language:

German

Release Date:

2 April 1981 (USA)

Also Known As:

Christiane F.

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

DEM 4,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Solaris Film, Maran Film, Popular Filmproduktion

Technical Specs

Runtime:

138 min 131 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The movie is based on fact on the true-life Berlin youth drug culture of the 1970s. The film is set during the years 1975-1977, was shot in 1980, and first released in 1981.

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Goofs

Christiane F. plays the David Bowie album, "ChangesOneBowie," in her room. But the song that is heard - the German version of "Heroes" ("Helden") - is not on that particular record.

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Crazy Credits

"The Production likes to thank the 'Sound'-Team and determines the fact, that the 'Sound' has developed to be one of the most interesting youth-meeting points in the world. The drug-scene, as shown in the picture is not identical with that one in present."

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Alternate Versions

For its UK theatrical release the film was cut by 12 secs by the BBFC, though video versions were much heavier cut by over 5 minutes with all of the edits made to scenes showing the preparation and injection of heroin. The cuts were fully waived in 2000 for all video and DVD releases.

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Connections

Features Night of the Living Dead (1968)

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Soundtracks

Look back in Anger
Text: David Bowie (as Bowie)
Music: David Bowie (as Bowie)/Brian Eno (as Eno)
RCA Records
Courtesy Rolf-Budde-Verlag, Berlin

User Reviews

the king of drug films

I have seen so many films about drug addiction, and not one of them can equal the sheer power of this one. The life of this 14 year old West Berlin junkie is crafted with an astounding level of realism. Her downward spiral into heroin addiction and prostitution is captured by Ulrich Edel, who holds nothing back in his depiction. We see through Christiane's eyes, every filthy toilet, every creepy, slimy john whom she must trick with for drug money, every moment of terror and desperation. At this age, everything is felt so intensely. Christiane, a young teenager from a "hell on Earth" place called Gropistadt, a truly dark and bleak part of Neukoln, West Berlin. A place where there is absolutely nothing for a teenager to do. She discovers a place called "The Sound", a cavernous disco located near the posh and touristy "Kurfuerstendamm". "The Sound" is a seedy teen hangout, infested with drugs, and with dealers only too happy to feed Valium and heroin to kids eager to escape their dreary reality and to have fun. Here is where Christiane meets Detlef, a boy her age. Detlef starts using heroin soon after they meet, and Christiane, scared of losing him to the drug, begins using also. It is especially important to notice that the film doesn't glamorize heroin. As soon as the hard drug use begins, the mood of the film changes instantly. The wonderful music of David Bowie whom Christiane worships is heard frequently throughout the first section of the film. After her and her friends become junkies, the Bowie music disappears, which is very symbolic, i think. Thankfully director Edel didn't make the mistake that so many American directors make when filming stories about teens: The actors here are genuine teenagers, around 14/15 years old. This makes the film so much more powerful and shocking, and much more believable. The effects of heroin on these kids is staggering to behold; they turn into these sickly shadows of their former selves, like zombies, in search of their next fix. And strangely, Christiane and her friends never seem to enjoy the high from the heroin. You will never see such a bleak vision of kids lost in a surreal hell of drug addiction. And to add further to the intensity, the film is long, 138 minutes uncut, becoming steadily darker and seedier by the minute, until the viewer wonders just how long can this young girl go on like this without completely self-destructing. And amazingly, throughout the running time, the film never preaches, not for a moment. And it never becomes sentimental, as most American drug films often do. The film style is specifically German. I doubt that any American director could have created such a dark and gritty film about people so young. "Christiane F: Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo" remains one of the most well-known and admired films to ever come out of Germany.