Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Cheryl A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

kzicishti I saw it for the first time randomly when I was 13 years old, but not all of it. I would search for it with a lot of names( I saw it on Italian) but could not find it...After a lot of research I found the movie and was so happy to see it again..There is something so strange about this movie. It takes you with it. You get inside the movie and feel everything..After you watch it once you will never forget it... Everything seems so true for Berlin. Actually it is because a lot of things are for real, some videos for example. They say it has a lot in common with Albania, the capital Tirana at years 1996..The explanation about drugs is so true..It is based on a true story, the book actually with the same name.

Bartholomew Normanicus In this delightful romp by German director, Uli Edel, we are whizzed through 70's era Berlin by pre-teen protagonist, Christiane F. Christiane, played by actress Natja Brunkhorst, is an adventurous young wunderkind eager for excitement, and together with her rambunctious cohorts, she seeks it out with aplomb in Berlin's burgeoning disco/heroin/prostitution scene. Taken by a school friend to a local nightclub at the tender age of 12, our young explorer finds herself amongst a colourful cast of junkies, queers and freaks. A little bit taken aback at first, her nerves are quickly tempered when a charming young fellow thrusts an acid trip into her mouth, a mere ten minutes after she'd entered the club. Unfortunately, this wasn't the only thing he wanted to thrust into her mouth so after spurning his advances she skips away into the arms of a more wholesome chap, Heroin addicted, male prostitute, Detlev.The two lovable scamps then embark on a fantastical romance that lights up the many shooting galleries and U-Bahn stations that made Berlin such a fun place to be for a young, fatally un-self-preservational teenager. Christiane's Mother haphazardly fails to read the writing on the wall, and when faced with the news that her now 13 year old daughter has permanently tattooed her own hand, she responds by buying her and her dope fiend boyfriend tickets to the upcoming David Bowie show. In a rather unimaginative appearance, Bowie shows up to play himself, and to further add to the predictability, he sings a song. It is at this show Christiane first tries heroin in an spunky attempt to stay close to the aloof (strung out) Detlev. As their drug addiction worsens, school naturally falls by the wayside, as does any semblance of ordinary life. A romeo and juliet for the 70s, their bond grows tighter and tighter, true, its a bond of heroin addiction and prostitution but tis a bond all the same.In one hilarious scene the pair actually try and withdraw together with obvious failed results including a quite comical vomiting scene. Once they get back on the smack, they settle into their habit with gusto, not even the deaths of practically all their friends can persuade these two headstrong rogues to give it up! Back on the game, we are treated to some splendid moments of depravity as the two fall deeper and deeper into an abyss of bloodless veins and sodomized flesh. Culminating in the exuberant scene in which Christiane hypocritically squeals at Detlev for taking it up the arse from a male punter before running off to do the same.In a rather abrupt and unexpected ending, Christiane is carted off to Hamburg to withdraw at her grandparents house, and we're left to imagine what became of der kinder vom Bahnof Zoo.

freemantle_uk Based on a non-fiction book by Vera Christiane Felscherinow Christiane F is an example tough, hard hitting, but excellent film about drug addiction that can stand alongside the likes of Trainspotting, Requiem for a Dream and Thirteen.Christiane (Natja Brunckhorst) is a 13-year-old girl who lives with her mother in a social housing building in West Berlin during the late 70s. Her younger sister moves out and her mother has a new boyfriend. Christiane starts to spend her Saturday evenings in a nightclub called Sound and soon befriends a group of teenagers, including Delef (Thomas Haustein) who becomes her boyfriend. She soon slides into a world of drugs, taking LSD and heroin and becomes a street prostitute when she is 14.Christiane F. is a tough watch but director Uli Edel injects enough and Brunckhorst's performance makes the film a very compelling watch. Edel shows Berlin to be a very depressing, concert jungle that is decaying and uses dark and gritty cinematography constantly. Edel sets out to show the world as it is and we see the full efforts of heroin use and addiction as the characters physically and socially decay. Edel shows confidence with his staging, using steady camera and continuous takes to show characters, Christiane in the club or going into their drug apartment. There were two moments particularly that reminded me of Requiem for a Dream, one where Christiane is in the back of a car where she tries heroin for the first time and one in Bahnhof Zoo shot in a dream like way as we follow Christiane and has a fantastic deep piano song in the background.Brunckhorst gave a fantastic, natural performance as we see Christiane becomes dependent on drugs. The whole cast were excellent and it is even more remarkable because many of them were non-actors in very tough roles and Christiane F. is their only acting credit. We see Christiane change physically, both with her dress and hair to losing weight and becomes more pale. There are tough but great sequence when Christiane gets high, shaking and swearing the middle of the night and the tough withdrawn sequence.Christiane F. also has constant theme of foreshadowing of what could happen to Christiane, seeing how addict and people saying they don't want to do heroin before submitting. There are moments where addicts also try to talk people out of trying drugs in a half-hearted manner and the film aims for realistic behaviour of addicts, which was wonderfully handled.Christiane F. also has a great soundtrack, both using David Bowie music and the score as already mention.I have not read the book, so I cannot truly judge it as an adaption, but I would have been interesting to see how Christiane dealt with school as she became more addicted to heroin and looked more at her mother, either noticing or ignoring a change in her behaviour: even if it a quick discussion between the mum and the boyfriend and dismissing it as typical teenage rebellion.Christiane F. is a very bleak and grim film but it is worth watching. It should be praised for its realism, actors, direction and style.

Waerdnotte Having watched this movie when it was first released, liked other reviewers I felt I needed to revisit it find out whether it was as influential and affecting as I remember. Well, the short answer is yes. It is very well realised, Uli Edel created an enthralling film from the book of the same name. He doesn't rely on improbable drama to move the story forward, just a matter-of-fact story that sees the young Christiane first drift into the world of discos and soft drugs and gradually become involved in the Berling heroin scene. And it relies on a certain amount of realism for the film to work, however, we don't get the contemporary film maker's penchant for hand-held wobbly camera work, we get Edel creating a claustrophobic world of late night teenage hedonism, from which Christiane and Detlev's relationship evolves from one of mutual attraction to one of mutual addiction.This kind of movie had been made before, most obviously by Jerry Shatzberg eight years previously with Panic In Needle Park, but the film (distributed by 20th Century Fox) was still fairly mainstream. Christiane F / Zoo was raw and street-wise, plus it had a European sensibility that made it more relevant to a generation of Western European teenagers. We had been warned of the dangers of heroin, but now we could see it played out before our eyes on the movie screen.So, it is definitely a movie of its time. The drugs available then were limited, and the movie reflects the limitations of choice not only in drugs, but in music, entertainment, and life. The film has that 1970s washed out look, the acting is pretty below average, the dialogue stilted, but Edel focuses on the grim reality of Berlin, its social housing, the places people meet, the things they do. This was pretty much the same for all European cities in the 1970s and this realism is what ultimately makes the film worth watching. Its a snapshot of 1970s European youth culture; grim, boring, apathetic and economically challenged. What made their life more interesting? Bowie and drugs.