Review of Christiane F. (1981) by Ivan L — 10 Jan 2015

I didn't know much about this one going into it, only that it was a drug movie and that it is the name of a soundtrack that David Bowie put his name to. Well it turns out this is extremely gritty and a realistic portrayal of drug abuse with some really incredibly young kids (think 12/13). David Bowie even ended up appearing in the movie as himself as well as being the soundtrack (which means the music is very good folks). This is one of those films it's easy to get wound up in, sort of a cross between the horror that is sort of like a '70s version of the film "Kids". This movie is German, and the version I watched was dubbed, but the original language is of course German.

We watch the beautifully young Christiane attend a show with her young friend who adores the clubs. She meets several new friends and even a romantic interest (Detlev), becomes a huge Bowie fan and starts trying to belong. She doesn't seem totally innocent, but she advises others not to take "H" (heroin of course) and will not take it herself. That is until she learns that Detlev isn't about to get off of it, so instead she decides to try it and let's just say that things go downhill from there. She learns how to prostitute for money from Detlev (without actually having sex with the customer) and starts dragging deeper and deeper into a personal hell.

Soon everyone in the movie is addicted to heroin, doing horrible things and it gets darker and darker. The acting in this is superb, the film is entirely believable as well it should be since it's a biography. This is one of those things which really should be seen although it's disturbing, it's a necessary evil.