In the annals of “just say no” cinema this 1981 film is unquestionably one of the most powerful entries. CHRISTIANE F. was based on the confessions of Christiane Felscherinow, a heroin addict and prostitute, which later became a 1979 book.
The premiere collaboration between director Ulrich—or Uli—Edel, producer Bernd Eichinger and screenwriter Herman Weigel, CHRISTIANE F. was a massive, and much imitated, hit in Europe, putting its Eichinger-headed distribution company Neue Constantin Film on the map (and leading to 1989’s LAST EXIT TO BROOKLYN, a Edel-Eichinger-Weigel collaboration that wasn’t nearly as successful). Its fortunes in the United States, alas, were compromised by the fact that New World Pictures distributed it in a horrendously dubbed version—in which form CHRISTIANE F., to add further insult, was released on DVD by Image Entertainment.
The film has been criticized for being simplistic, but I say simplicity is its primary virtue. Direct and unaffected, it follows its 13 year old heroine (Natja Brunckhorst), living in a Berlin apartment building whose main impression is, in her own words, one of “piss and shit,” into the youth culture of Berlin’s Zoo Station. There she falls in with a crowd whose activities include DIY tattooing, stealing money, staying out all night and, of course, taking drugs.
Events take a rather drastic turn when Christiane’s BF Detlev (Thomas Haustein) elects to do the dreaded “H,” and before long he’s reduced to prostituting himself to support his habit. Against Detlav’s wishes Christiane takes to snorting heroin herself. She celebrates her fourteenth birthday by shooting up for the first time, courtesy of a junkie she runs into in a Zoo Station restroom, who obligingly injects her with his own syringe. Before long she’s completely strung out, and desperate for money to support her habit. She initially tries begging, which doesn’t get her very far–and so, once again following Detlav’s lead, she becomes a prostitute.
Upon learning of her activities Christiane’s mother (Christiane Lechie) demands she get clean. Christiane and Detlev attempt to kick their habit by locking themselves in her bedroom, leading to a lot of shaking and vomiting. Before long Christiane is strung out once again, and steps up her money-making gambits, stealing from her mother and begging random motorists for cash. Detlev, meanwhile, becomes the exclusive property of a wealthy homosexual, leaving Christiane to score drugs and, eventually, bottom out on her own.
What this film has in its favor is a sense of unaffected realism that offsets the potentially exploitive nature of its content. Uli Edel’s smooth and unobtrusive helming is a particular asset in this respect, providing a near-documentary depiction of Berlin’s Zoo Station in the early eighties–an arid, neon-lit environ packed with vacant-eyed junkies. We even get a glimpse inside one of the infamous “railroad cinemas” that flourished in Germany, and specialized in sleazy and pornographic fare (as covered in the 2015 documentary CINEMA PERVERSO).
The realism is bolstered by admirably unobtrusive prosthetic effects. Yes, the same technology utilized in the FRIDAY THE THIRTEENTH flicks was employed here in the many scenes of kids shooting up. It all adds up to a portrait of Hell on Earth that’s as persuasive as any ever created.
The film, however, has an overriding flaw common to anti-drug cinema: the fact that it vastly oversells the ugliness and degradation of Christiane F.’s addiction, never properly explaining why she became strung out in the first place (with her abusive father, a pivotal character in the book, completely absent from the film). If the only things heroin leads to, as shown here, are nosebleeds, vomiting and death, then why on Earth would Christiane want to do it?
Another issue I have is with the David Bowie tunes that fill the soundtrack, and also some extended concert footage of Bowie. I understand that the getting of David Bowie was quite a feat on the part of the filmmakers (Bowie was notorious for his stinginess in allowing his songs and image to be used in movies), but he’s vastly overexposed here.
Vital Statistics
CHRISTIANE F. (CHRISTIANE F.: WIR KINDER VOM BAHNHOF ZOO)
Solaris Film/Neue Constantin Film/New World Pictures
Director: Ulrich Edel
Producers: Bernd Eichinger, Hans Weth
Screenplay: Herman Weigel
(Based on a book by Kai Hermann, Horst Rieck)
Cinematography: Jurgen Jurges, Justus Pankau
Editing: Jane Seitz
Cast: Natja Brunckhorst, Eberhard Auiga, Peggy Bussieck, Thomas Haustein, Lothar Chamski, Rainer Woelk, Uwe Diderich, Jan Georg Effler, Ellen Esser, Andreas Fuhrmann, David Bowie