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:

This Isn't a Story...It's an EXPLOSION!

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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

One of Christiane F.'s best friends in the movie is Babsi (played by Christiane Reichelt) who later hit the cover of the newspaper "Berliner Zeit" in 1977 when she died aged only fourteen. Babsi was the youngest drug victim in Berlin, and her death, along with the publication of the book "Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo" helped in raising the awareness of the increased number of teenage drug users.

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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

Referenced in Hollywood High (2003)

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Soundtracks

TVC15
Written by David Bowie
RCA Records
Courtesy Rolf-Budde-Verlag, Berlin

User Reviews

One of the most thought-provoking, interesting and disturbing films I have ever seen

I really wasn't prepared for this film, or was I? I had been recommended it, and told it was disturbing, but it certainly had a massive effect on me.

Christiane F is the true story of a girl who gets seduced by the German nightlife and David Bowie, and slowly drifts onto heroin.

There are several disturbing parts of this movie. The heroin/prostitution scenes are disturbing, but I didn't get disturbed by these as much as I did the story. The media would have us believe that heroin users and dealers are monsters and don't have a right to live. The people in this movie are real, and easy to identify with.

I definitely recommend this movie, and compared to Trainspotting (a film I also enjoyed) is much more realistic.