Christiane F. - Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo (film)
Encyclopedia
Christiane F. - Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo is a 1981 film that portrays the drug scene in West Berlin
in the 1970s, based on the novel of the same name written following tape recordings of Christiane F.
. She's bored and lacks things to do and is sick and tired of living there. She hears of Sound, a new disco in the city center, labelled as the most modern discothèque in Europe. Although she's legally too young to go there, she dresses up in high heels, wears makeup, and asks a friend from school, who hangs out there regularly, to take her, too. At the disco, she meets Detlef, who is a little older and is in a clique where everybody experiments with various drugs. At first she takes pills and LSD, but gradually becomes drawn deeper into the drugs, eventually ending up as a heroin-addict and prostitute. Christiane falls in love with Detlef, and begins using heroin on a regular basis, soon becoming a junkie like the rest of the group.
However the real and most important effect it had on popular culture, starting from Berlin
and later spreading to Western Europe
, was a growing concern towards heroin consumption.
except Heroes/Helden written by Bowie/Eno
/Maas, Boys Keep Swinging and Look Back In Anger written by Bowie/Eno. According to the book, the real Christiane F. had had her first experience with heroin at a David Bowie concert some years earlier; this is told in the film with David Bowie starring as himself. The concert scene was filmed in October 1980 at New York's Hurrah Club, which was redressed to resemble a Berlin nightclub (Bowie was appearing nightly on Broadway at the time so director Ulrich Edel had to shoot the sequence in New York).
West Berlin
West Berlin was a political exclave that existed between 1949 and 1990. It comprised the western regions of Berlin, which were bordered by East Berlin and parts of East Germany. West Berlin consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors, which had been established in 1945...
in the 1970s, based on the novel of the same name written following tape recordings of Christiane F.
Christiane F.
Christiane F. is a former heroin addict famous for her contribution to the autobiographical book , and the film based on the book, which describes her struggle with various forms of drug addiction during her teens.-Early life:Christiane was born in Hamburg, but her family moved to West Berlin when...
Synopsis
12-year-old Christiane Felscherinow lives with her mother and little sister in a small apartment in a typical multi-storey concrete apartment building in a dull neighbourhood in the outskirts of West BerlinWest Berlin
West Berlin was a political exclave that existed between 1949 and 1990. It comprised the western regions of Berlin, which were bordered by East Berlin and parts of East Germany. West Berlin consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors, which had been established in 1945...
. She's bored and lacks things to do and is sick and tired of living there. She hears of Sound, a new disco in the city center, labelled as the most modern discothèque in Europe. Although she's legally too young to go there, she dresses up in high heels, wears makeup, and asks a friend from school, who hangs out there regularly, to take her, too. At the disco, she meets Detlef, who is a little older and is in a clique where everybody experiments with various drugs. At first she takes pills and LSD, but gradually becomes drawn deeper into the drugs, eventually ending up as a heroin-addict and prostitute. Christiane falls in love with Detlef, and begins using heroin on a regular basis, soon becoming a junkie like the rest of the group.
Cast and roles
- Natja BrunckhorstNatja BrunckhorstNatja Brunckhorst is a German film actress.She is mostly known for her role as Christiane F. in the drama Christiane F. - Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo....
- Christiane F.Christiane F.Christiane F. is a former heroin addict famous for her contribution to the autobiographical book , and the film based on the book, which describes her struggle with various forms of drug addiction during her teens.-Early life:Christiane was born in Hamburg, but her family moved to West Berlin when... - Thomas Haustein - Detlef
- Jens Kuphal - Axel
- Rainer Wölk - Leiche
- Jan Georg Effler - Bernd
- Christiane Reichelt - Babsi
- Daniela Jaeger - Kessi
- Kerstin Richter - Stella
- David BowieDavid BowieDavid Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
- Himself
Reception
As the movie was first shown theaters in Germany, the movie and the book acquired cult status and pushed ahead junkie fashion allowing Christiane to earn a semi status of fame for a short period.However the real and most important effect it had on popular culture, starting from Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
and later spreading to Western Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
, was a growing concern towards heroin consumption.
Soundtrack
All songs written by David BowieDavid Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
except Heroes/Helden written by Bowie/Eno
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
/Maas, Boys Keep Swinging and Look Back In Anger written by Bowie/Eno. According to the book, the real Christiane F. had had her first experience with heroin at a David Bowie concert some years earlier; this is told in the film with David Bowie starring as himself. The concert scene was filmed in October 1980 at New York's Hurrah Club, which was redressed to resemble a Berlin nightclub (Bowie was appearing nightly on Broadway at the time so director Ulrich Edel had to shoot the sequence in New York).
- V-2 Schneider
- TVC 15
- Heroes/Helden
- Boys Keep Swinging
- Sense Of Doubt
- Station To Station (Live)
- Look Back In Anger
- Stay
- Warszawa
See also
- Berlin Zoologischer Garten railway stationBerlin Zoologischer Garten railway stationBerlin Zoologischer Garten station was the central transport facility in West Berlin during the division of the city, and thereafter for the western central area of Berlin until opening of the new Berlin Central Station on 28 May 2006...
aka. Bahnhof Zoo - MementoMemento (novel)Memento is a novel with reporting elements, written by Czech author Radek John and published in 1986. The story is set in Prague in the 1980s....
a novel by Radek JohnRadek JohnRadek John is a Czech journalist, writer, screenwriter and politician, current chairman of the political party Public Affairs . His novel Memento is the first book examining the drug problem in the context of the former communist Czechoslovakia...