Christiane F. - Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo (1981)
aka Christiane F.
I've known about
Christiane F. for ages (I've had the VHS case on my hand in the mid-'80s), but I've never seen it before. Especially after the recent reviews here, I had high hopes for it, but at the same time, I was afraid it wouldn't live up to those expectations. In the end, it was worse than I had hoped but also better than I had feared.
There's only one major flaw in
Christiane F., but it's so fundamental that it affects the whole movie. Far too often, it feels like an educational film about the dangers of drug use intended for school showings. Especially the dialogue is so underlining at times. I don't like pedantic movies, and this one comes off as way too preachy.
Technically,
Christiane F. is better than I expected. In the beginning, Berlin has this decadent beauty, but the deeper Christiane sinks into her addiction, the uglier it becomes. It moves from the Sound club and David Bowie concert to the metro station and public toilets and grey streets littered with homeless junkies. The style supports the story almost perfectly.
Acting is mostly good, especially considering the number of first-timers and amateurs. Some scenes feel little forced (like the withdrawal scene with Christiane and Detlev), but I'm blaming the director for that. Natja Brunckhorst is quite perfect in the titular role.
I wish the film would have told the story and nothing else. Remove the corny dialogue about the dangers of heroin, and just show the downfall of this girl. And I know it's based on a true story, but the ending is terrible: you just can't build up to a suicide attempt and then end the film with a voiceover saying "I'm good. Drugs are bad, mmkay".
I'm still a little unsure of my eventual rating, but at the moment I'm leaning towards the idea that Christiane F. is a good movie, despite its one major and some minor flaws. Without a question, there's a lot of wasted potential.