This film radically captures the rawness of youngsters slipping into drugs, some so young one cannot help but to feel shocked. What is really remarkable about the narrative is that is flows so cohesively, taking its time to coherently develop its plot, which in turn is all about Christiane's spiralling down into substance abuse and how that affects and disrupts her life. The story is painful and disturbing, it is almost weakening to observe wide-eyed how youth culture can be reduced to nothing by means of dangerous substances, sometimes lethal ones like heroine.
I find David Bowie's music fascinating in this film, as it really enhances the experience, taking into account that the real story of how Christiane first became hooked was on one of his concerts in Berlin. The helplessness of some characters is rather tragic, to witness the fact that for some people there's just no going back, brings about devastating sensations.
The acting is phenomenal, which finds its way into concord along with the film's story. Everything seems so real that at times it feels as if it is not a film, but a documentary. It is probably the strongest and most realistic depiction of a drug scene and drug addicts ever put on film. Many elements were purposefully used in order to achieve that level of realism, such as many of the film's locations are the actual locations in real life. Many extras were drug addicts so they knew exactly what they were getting into, and played their parts perfectly.
It's not all about how Christiane and her friends become addicted, it's also about the consequences of their addiction, which proves to be pretty destructive, in fact is one of the most woeful aspects of the film, which is notoriously attached to its impressive authenticity.
A splendid film, one that will stay with you for a long time, a film that makes you think, reflect and question. There's not enough people to whom I would enthusiastically recommend this film, sadly there just isn't. If you like films like Trainspotting and Requiem for a Dream, one viewing of Christiane F. will make them look like the Teletubbies in comparison. No offense to those films, which are great though.
I find David Bowie's music fascinating in this film, as it really enhances the experience, taking into account that the real story of how Christiane first became hooked was on one of his concerts in Berlin. The helplessness of some characters is rather tragic, to witness the fact that for some people there's just no going back, brings about devastating sensations.
The acting is phenomenal, which finds its way into concord along with the film's story. Everything seems so real that at times it feels as if it is not a film, but a documentary. It is probably the strongest and most realistic depiction of a drug scene and drug addicts ever put on film. Many elements were purposefully used in order to achieve that level of realism, such as many of the film's locations are the actual locations in real life. Many extras were drug addicts so they knew exactly what they were getting into, and played their parts perfectly.
It's not all about how Christiane and her friends become addicted, it's also about the consequences of their addiction, which proves to be pretty destructive, in fact is one of the most woeful aspects of the film, which is notoriously attached to its impressive authenticity.
A splendid film, one that will stay with you for a long time, a film that makes you think, reflect and question. There's not enough people to whom I would enthusiastically recommend this film, sadly there just isn't. If you like films like Trainspotting and Requiem for a Dream, one viewing of Christiane F. will make them look like the Teletubbies in comparison. No offense to those films, which are great though.