Dom Robinson reviews

Christiane F

A true story.

Distributed by Second Sight

Cert:

Cat.no: 2NDVD 3005

Running time: 126 minutes

Year: 1981

Pressing: 2000

Region(s): 2, PAL

Chapters: 20

Sound: Dolby Surround (Dolby Digital 2.0)

Languages: German

Subtitles: English

Widescreen: 1.66:1

16:9-Enhanced: No

Macrovision: Yes

Disc Format: DVD 5

Price: £19.99

Extras : Scene index, Lobby Card Gallery, Production Notes

Director:

Ulrich Edel

Producers:

Bernd Elchinger and Hans Weth

Cast:

Christiane: Natja Brunckhorst
Detlev: Thomas Haustein
Himself: David Bowie

---

Life as a teenager isn't easy at the best of times, but it's not helped if you're hooked on all sorts of narcotics after trying something simple before moving on to the hard stuff. Christiane's spiral downwards occurs at the new "Sound" nightclub where she goes with a friend and meets her other half, rent-boy Detlev (Thomas Haustein), with whom she begins a sexual relationship at a mere fourteen years of age, but agrees only to do so if he promises not to take any "H", a drug that will give you a serious mindfuck.

Obsessed with pop star David Bowie, the man appears himself with many of his songs being played at a concert, after which Christiane sinks into prostitution and then... well, do you really want to think about it?

The film is presented in the original 1.66:1 ratio, but is non-anamorphic and comes across looking fairly grim. This isn't a bad thing as it's not the fault of the encoding, but is just the way the film is meant to be. It's not a happy-go-lucky film, but a look at the more seedy side of life. The average bitrate is 4.65Mb/s, once peaking over 9Mb/s.

The sound is in standard Dolby Digital 2.0 (Dolby Surround) and is fine but never overreaches itself, but if you knew the plot when you picked this up you wouldn't be expecting SFX ahoy!

Extras :

Chapters :

Languages and Subtitles :

When it comes to the English translations, some of the scenes which would normally provoke more harsh phrases seem quite toned down.

And there's more... :

Menu :

Overall, this is a haunting and disturbing story even if you're one of those people who don't go in for subtitled movies. I presume the BBFC allowed us to see needles piercing the skin when injecting because it shows the negative consequences that follow, unlike the censored Pulp Fiction, which just showed John Travolta getting high.

For the unsure, I'd definitely recommend a rental although it's not the sort of film that's destined for many Blockbuster stores. For the rest, the film is worth keeping as a purchase, but it's a shame there are no more extras.

FILM CONTENT PICTURE QUALITY SOUND QUALITY EXTRAS
OVERALL

Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 2000.