grantss A harrowing ordeal...as any good movie that explores the world of drug addiction should be. Quite graphic in its depiction of the consequences of drug addiction, and the heartbreaking, and seemingly unbreakable, bonds involved. Just when you think someone is about to break free, they get sucked back in. Very sad, and frustrating.About as searingly graphic, if not more, as Requiem for a Dream, another excellent movie that should convince anyone who watches it to avoid the scourge that is drugs. Another movie you wouldn't want to watch too frequently, due to its gruesome honesty and the fact that the images are burned into your brain.Excellent soundtrack from David Bowie, including live concert footage. Most of the songs are from his Heroes album, which was written and recorded in West Berlin, and conveys the feelings that living in West Berlin evoked in Bowie. Ideal soundtrack then for Christiane F, being set in West Berlin.

Bob An This movie is disturbing!The scenes of people taking heroin and bloody needles and fights for the fix is just disturbing for me. Maybe because I never took any kind of drug and this movie was some kind of a revelation to me, but on the other hand, it went through my mind that it is good I never taken any.The movie was shot in that way that I had a feeling that I was there...That I was present whole time while the girl and the boy were struggling with their addiction.I was also shocked to see ( but I guess the movie did not go far from truth) that there were so many of those addicted people at metro and train stations...It was very uncomfortable for me to watch. As I said very disturbing!I think the boy did a bit better job in acting than the girl. Both were great and both cute. David Bowie in the movie was a 'weird' touch, but I guess his 'colorfulness' fit the film good.All in all, eight from me.

rangerdelraval Watched the movie twice in the last 24 hours, and I definitely enjoyed it even more the second time. In fact, while watching it for the first time, I got the impression, specially at the beginning of the story, that it was a little bit overrated. That probably was due to the fact that the transition from having the first experience with drugs to become a junkie is too fast, and I kind of got lost. Love the photography. Love the music. Love the concert and the streets of Berlin. Love disco Sound, even though I was just 7 in 1981, is kind of familiar to me, probably 10 years later still existed similar dumps in my hometown when I started going to discos. Love the scene of the gang at the top of the building at dawn, and, very specially, love Babsi.

leereddy Christiane F - We The Children Of Bahnhof Zoo is a 1981 film directed by Ulrich Edel based on the torrid accounts of a young girl living in West Berlin during the 1970's and her addiction to heroin and subsequent descent into prostitution.Based on the accounts of her non-fiction book of the same name the film details the period in which she began experimenting with drugs, such as cannabis and L.S.D, to her initial foray into heroin use and ending with her complete abasement.Shot with a low budget and employing a large number of first time actors, many of whom chose never to further a career in film, as well as a large number of extras sourced by the production team who were in fact real life junkies and down and outs. These factors alone contribute to the films startling sense of realism and authenticity.Also, many of the films locations such as the club where Christiane hung out and the nefarious "Zoo" station where young addicts would prostitute themselves are the original locations in which the characters experiences are based, adding further to the films genuine portrayal of the seedy drug scene of West Berlin in the 70's.The cinematography is bleak and unforgiving and brilliantly captures the barbarous nature of the scene and subject matter. Edels sparse and careful approach gives the piece an almost documentary style and no doubt this unflinching depiction, along with the graphic, perfunctory portrayal of teenage drug abuse contributed to its controversy. Natja Brunckhorst provides the role of Chritiane and turns an astonishing debut as the heart breaking girl whose life debases to unimaginable depths within such a short space of time. Showing many audiences across Europe that the looming Heroin epidemic was not just confined to older people but also its ruthless and savage affects and how immediate its ravages take place.This film pulls no punches. Its gritty, no nonsense representation of heroin, and its consequences, are shocking and tragic. The director also manages to take these dissolute children and allow us to view them free of judgement and witness first hand the terrible conditions in which some youths find themselves living within the confines of a so called civilised society. Many a question will arise when watching this film; how, why etc. But its principal aim is to simply allow us a front row seat to a window into a world most of us are hitherto unaccustomed - the nefarious, cruel and grievous life of a teenage addict who ambulates the inevitable path toward prostitution and ultimately burnout.A great film with fantastic performances and above else, a great soundtrack provided by David Bowie. If you thought Trainspotting back in the late 90's was a shocking film about heroin abuse then this piece will hit you hard because despite its cult status this film is as real and as heart breaking as it gets.