Horst_In_Translation Review of White Star

White Star (1983)

Watch it only if you care about the music industry

[4/10 · 25 August 2016]

"White Star" is a West German German-language film from 1983, so it will soon have its 35th anniversary. The writer and director is Bavarian Roland Klick and this is one of his most known works. He was in his 40s here and one of the most successful German filmmakers at that time. One reason for the film's popularity is the fact that it includes actors Dennis Hopper and David Hess, both still very well known today. Unfortunately, I have struggled so far from what I have seen from Klick and this one here is no exception either. I find him pretty difficult to find an access to that would result in a rewarding watch. This is also why I would recommend these 90 minutes only to people who really love German movies or have a great interest in the music industry and especially the history of it. The film's biggest weakness, however, was probably the way punk rock was depicted in here and I felt it had very little to do with reality (back then). i said this one runs for 90 minutes, but this is only partially true as there are other versions out there as well. the one I watched was ran for slightly under 90 minutes though. As a whole I thought the acting was solid, sometimes even pretty good from the cast, but the plot and story overall were not on par and the film's bleakness did not help. It was obvious how Klick was going for authentic drama and people who know him know that he does not care for forced happy endings, but his shot at bleak realism did not feel very convincing here. I give "White Star" a thumbs-down. Not recommended.