6 German Films That Positively Wallow In Gloom

1. Christiane F (1981)

christine f An instant cult classic, Christiane F benefits from the musical input of David Bowie. Although I disliked the way 'Heroes' is played to death. Yes I know it's trying to highlight the pathetic and wasted lives of the junkies in the film but honestly, we don't need to hear it every 3 minutes. in 1975, Christiane lives in a cheerless apartment block with her mother and sister in West Germany. Apart from being a huge David Bowie fan, she has little to brighten up her drab existence. Into her life comes the nightclub Sound - billing itself as the most modern disco in Europe. Obviously, Christiane is not of legal age to go to the club, but she gains entry by tarting herself up to look older. In Sound, she meets Detlef, an older boy who runs with a group who are heavy drug users. Christiane starts pill popping and using LSD. At a Bowie concert she meets Babsi - a girl around her age who has similar inclinations. She starts to snort heroin. To deepen her attachment to Detlef, Christiane begins using heroin regularly and descends into hell - prostituting herself at the infamous Bahnhof Zoo, stealing from her family, and reaching such a low that he is attacked by a junkie in the toilets where all the heroin addicts jack up. Detlef and Christiane go cold turkey - and the full bodily effects of this are portrayed in the film. They are optimistic about their recovery but inexorably end up back at Bahnhof Zoo. More hell is thus in store for Detlef and Christiane as death begins to encroach upon their lives and they reach new levels of squalor. The film was very well received across Western Europe as an accurate and cautionary tale of heroin use. The heroin boom of the late 1970s/1980s had shocked many societies to their core, especially as it was claiming the lives of so many young people. Christiane F gave a sensational view into the lives of bored, disaffected, young heroin addicts - showing them shooting up in filthy toilets with urine, faeces and vomit everywhere. Using the toilet bowl water to shoot up with. It was brutal stuff. The film was based on the true life case of the real Christiane F who thankfully survived the nightmare in the film to become clean and sober. I think only Trainspotting can come close to Christiane F in the degree that it shows heroin addiction as so revolting, so desperate and so gruesome. In fact, Christiane F is probably the most graphic and realistic portrayal of heroin addiction that you will ever see. A lot stronger than other heroin based films such as Drugstore Cowboy and Requiem For a Dream. And thoroughly gloomy on top.
 
Posted On: 
Contributor
Contributor

My first film watched was Carrie aged 2 on my dad's knee. Educated at The University of St Andrews and Trinity College Dublin. Fan of Arthouse, Exploitation, Horror, Euro Trash, Giallo, New French Extremism. Weaned at the bosom of a Russ Meyer starlet. The bleaker, artier or sleazier the better!