1330 Christiane F.

[Finch]

Plunging into the 1970s Berlin underground, this unforgettable portrait stands as one of the most harrowing films ever made about drug addiction. Based on the true story of Christiane Felscherinow—whose shocking memoir made her the face of a generation of troubled German youth—this bracing dramatization follows the alienated thirteen-year-old Christiane (Natja Brunckhorst) as she goes from popping pills to shooting heroin amid West Berlin’s infamous club scene, the highs of adolescent abandon giving way to an agonizing existence on the city’s desolate margins. An instant cult sensation on account of its authentically grimy location shooting and electrifying soundtrack by David Bowie, Christiane F. remains a haunting vision of a young life in free fall.

New 4K digital restoration, approved by director Uli Edel, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
One 4K UHD disc of the film and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
New interview with Edel
New appreciation by filmmaker Sean Baker
Interview from 2022 with actor Natja Brunckhorst
Screen tests
New English subtitle translation
PLUS: An essay by scholar Hester Baer

[FauxFroslass]

Well, this one's a day one pickup for me. Kind of wish there were more features pertaining to Bowie's involvement though.

[tenia]

Can't say I liked the 4K restoration, which felt heavily processed.

[nicolas]

I've tried matching the (downscaled and compressed) Criterion website caps with ones from the German 4K: https://slow.pics/c/CoFdcFId.
The incorrect 1.78:1 framing gives away that it's the same master but I wonder if Criterion managed to access an earlier version of it before the DNR.

[mfunk9786]

I've tried matching the (downscaled and compressed) Criterion website caps with ones from the German 4K: https://slow.pics/c/CoFdcFId.
The incorrect 1.78:1 framing gives away that it's the same master but I wonder if Criterion managed to access an earlier version of it before the DNR.

This is a huge relief. Night & day difference.

[Drucker]

Another film I'm only familiar of because of the very cool Terminal Classic shirts!

[colinr0380]

I am most familiar with it by Barry Norman's contemporaneous take, where he is not that big a fan of the film!

[dda1996a]

Loved reading the book as a teen (with Crystal Castles as my soundtrack), but remember finding the film adaptation to be very disappointing (it's been ages since I watched it though).
Beyond its grimy aesthetics, the presence of Bowie and Natja Brunckhorst's acting, the film falls into a monotonous addict narrative.
What makes the book so good is Christiane's interior monologue, something the film can't/doesn't do.
Sans this, everything just becomes a trudging sameness, and ultimately a bore.

But I can give this a second watch in HD, maybe I'll change my mind. Anyhow it's still a fascinating look at a fascinating time, and if this makes more people go out and read the book all the better.

[The Curious Sofa]

I feel the same way. I found the book gripping and devastating, but the film struck me as dull and repetitive. But I haven't seen it since its release and having recently left Berlin after nearly a decade there, this may be a good time to revisit the film.

It's also not as bad as the recent TV remake, in which the teenagers are clearly played by twenty-somethings who look like models. Everything has been sanitised, and its version of the '70s looks like a high-fashion shoot. It embodies everything that's wrong with the current German TV and film industry. At least the movie and its cast looked authentic.

[bearcuborg]

I agree with Curious Sofa and dada1998a. I remember liking the book a lot more than the film as a teenager. Similar to loving The Outsiders book but really disliking the film at whatever age it was required reading in grade school.