{"id":34607,"date":"2015-09-23T08:37:33","date_gmt":"2015-09-23T15:37:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=34607"},"modified":"2021-10-08T14:01:24","modified_gmt":"2021-10-08T21:01:24","slug":"christiane-f-1981","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=34607","title":{"rendered":"Christiane F. (1981)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;Look at them: the cooler they are, the more shots they&#8217;ve had.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Christiane-F.-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Christiane-F.-Poster-197x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"197\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-34609\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Christiane-F.-Poster-197x300.jpg 197w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Christiane-F.-Poster-84x128.jpg 84w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Christiane-F.-Poster.jpg 580w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 197px) 100vw, 197px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA neglected teen (Natja Brunckhorst) in 1970s Berlin is drawn by her new boyfriend (Thomas Haustein) into a subculture of heroin use and prostitution.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Alcoholism and Drug Addiction<\/li>\n<li>David Bowie Films<\/li>\n<li>Downward Spiral<\/li>\n<li>German Films<\/li>\n<li>Teenagers<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary\u2019s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nPeary writes that this &#8220;controversial, grueling film&#8221; &#8212; &#8220;based on <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Christiane_F.#The_book\">actual transcripts<\/a>&#8221; &#8212; is &#8220;not as exploitative as you might have heard, but just as depressing&#8221;. He notes that it is &#8220;extremely graphic, unrelenting in its grimness, [and] believable&#8221; &#8212; and while it&#8217;s &#8220;obviously not for all tastes&#8221;, it &#8220;stays in memory&#8221;. Despite presenting drug culture as a no-man&#8217;s-land of desperation and debasement, the film became (and remains) a cult hit &#8212; due in part to an extended cameo concert appearance by David Bowie. What&#8217;s most impressive about the film (which is indeed a grueling, over-long viewing experience) is how authentically it portrays the gradual, almost inevitable allure of drugs to young teens seeking social approval and a sense of community. Christiane is a spunky girl, and resists heroin numerous times until she finally decides to &#8220;just try it&#8221; &#8212; first snorting, then injecting, always insisting she won&#8217;t let herself lose control, even as she gradually compromises her morals to earn money for drugs. She and her boyfriend &#8212; in perhaps the film&#8217;s most infamous scene &#8212; go through a harrowing withdrawal (rivaling that in <em>Trainspotting<\/em>), but they immediately relapse, and witness several of their street friends dying. Sadly, the real &#8220;Christiane F.&#8221; &#8212; who outed herself at an early age to help promote the film &#8212; remained an addict her entire life, and noted in a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vice.com\/en_uk\/read\/christiane-felscherinow-interview\">2013 interview<\/a> that while she was near death due to poor health, she had no plans to change her lifestyle.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Natja Brunckhorst as Christiane<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Christiane-F-Brunckhorst.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Christiane-F-Brunckhorst.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"704\" height=\"400\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-34610\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Christiane-F-Brunckhorst.png 704w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Christiane-F-Brunckhorst-128x73.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Christiane-F-Brunckhorst-300x170.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 704px) 100vw, 704px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>An appropriately seedy view of drug addiction<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Christiane-F-Seaminess2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Christiane-F-Seaminess2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"704\" height=\"400\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-34612\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Christiane-F-Seaminess2.png 704w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Christiane-F-Seaminess2-128x73.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Christiane-F-Seaminess2-300x170.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 704px) 100vw, 704px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Jurgen Knieper&#8217;s score\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, as a cult favorite. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Cult Movie<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0082176\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thespinningimage.co.uk\/cultfilms\/displaycultfilm.asp?reviewid=2&#038;aff=13\">Spinning Image Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.rogerebert.com\/reviews\/christiane-f-1982\">Roger Ebert&#8217;s Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1982\/03\/19\/movies\/horrors-of-addiction.html\">NY Times Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cinematicthreads.com\/review.php?id=1789&#038;ltr=C\">Cinematic Threads Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.timeout.com\/london\/film\/christiane-f\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Look at them: the cooler they are, the more shots they&#8217;ve had.&#8221; Synopsis: A neglected teen (Natja Brunckhorst) in 1970s Berlin is drawn by her new boyfriend (Thomas Haustein) into a subculture of heroin use and prostitution. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Alcoholism and Drug Addiction David Bowie Films Downward Spiral German Films Teenagers Response to Peary\u2019s Review: Peary writes that this &#8220;controversial, grueling film&#8221; &#8212; &#8220;based on actual transcripts&#8221; &#8212; is &#8220;not as exploitative as you might have heard,&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=34607\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34607","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=34607"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34607\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":76953,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34607\/revisions\/76953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=34607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=34607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=34607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}