We don't hear as much about drug addiction now. Sadly, it seems to have become accepted more in the collective conscious of society, and I think that's a very bad development. Drugs and drug addiction continue to pull unwitting people into their web, often permanently. This movie, "Christane F.", is an exceptional movie on the horrors of drug addiction. A key part of that is having the human side of the issue in clear focus all the time.
Christiane is a bored, aimless teenager in West Berlin in the 70s. I remember what it was like being a teenager. Suddenly, the comfort of being a kid was taken from you, and you were exposed to the real world and all of its difficult realities. That's enough to make anyone jaded, and there is nothing for Christiane to do in the boring apartment neighbourhood where she lives. She escapes her day-to-day life through the music of her idol, David Bowie. Desperate to feel alive, she has her eye on a new disco called The Sound. Even though too young to enter, she gets her friend to take her. But this new disco turns out to be a seedy teen hangout full of drugs and dealers. Christiane meets a guy there and falls in love with him. She'll do anything to keep this positive new influence in her life - even if that means sink into the world of drugs that he's slowly sinking into.
This film hits close to home because of how utterly real it feels. You even come to understand, if not agree with, why Christiane chooses her path. After she falls in with her new clique of friends, there is an exhilarating scene of them running around Berlin, aimlessly and high on their freedom. David Bowie's "Heroes" plays throughout. These kids desperately want to escape their dark and dreary realities. Too bad that they end up choosing a means of escape that plunges them into an even darker reality. Frighteningly, and humanly, the characters are fully aware of their addictions. They just can't find the spirit to do anything about it.
One particular scene is terrifying. Christiane and her boyfriend are locked in her mother's bedroom while cold turkey floods through them. The agony they project is quite hard to stomach, even when they're not coughing up blood. This drug destroys their lives, if not just their bodies, and while they know and want to escape their heroin addiction, their human insecurities make it difficult to do so. Slowly, indeed, they become less and less human in their constant search for the next fix.
The actors were astonishing, so utterly believable, showing talent way beyond their years. "Christiane F." is a frightening, sadly relevant movie about one of the darkest side-effects of society, and the deeply human turmoil that lands people there - often permanently. Fortunately, Christiane ultimately managed to escape her drug addiction, and hopefully this autobiographical story will keep other wayward kids from following her path.
Christiane is a bored, aimless teenager in West Berlin in the 70s. I remember what it was like being a teenager. Suddenly, the comfort of being a kid was taken from you, and you were exposed to the real world and all of its difficult realities. That's enough to make anyone jaded, and there is nothing for Christiane to do in the boring apartment neighbourhood where she lives. She escapes her day-to-day life through the music of her idol, David Bowie. Desperate to feel alive, she has her eye on a new disco called The Sound. Even though too young to enter, she gets her friend to take her. But this new disco turns out to be a seedy teen hangout full of drugs and dealers. Christiane meets a guy there and falls in love with him. She'll do anything to keep this positive new influence in her life - even if that means sink into the world of drugs that he's slowly sinking into.
This film hits close to home because of how utterly real it feels. You even come to understand, if not agree with, why Christiane chooses her path. After she falls in with her new clique of friends, there is an exhilarating scene of them running around Berlin, aimlessly and high on their freedom. David Bowie's "Heroes" plays throughout. These kids desperately want to escape their dark and dreary realities. Too bad that they end up choosing a means of escape that plunges them into an even darker reality. Frighteningly, and humanly, the characters are fully aware of their addictions. They just can't find the spirit to do anything about it.
One particular scene is terrifying. Christiane and her boyfriend are locked in her mother's bedroom while cold turkey floods through them. The agony they project is quite hard to stomach, even when they're not coughing up blood. This drug destroys their lives, if not just their bodies, and while they know and want to escape their heroin addiction, their human insecurities make it difficult to do so. Slowly, indeed, they become less and less human in their constant search for the next fix.
The actors were astonishing, so utterly believable, showing talent way beyond their years. "Christiane F." is a frightening, sadly relevant movie about one of the darkest side-effects of society, and the deeply human turmoil that lands people there - often permanently. Fortunately, Christiane ultimately managed to escape her drug addiction, and hopefully this autobiographical story will keep other wayward kids from following her path.