“I have complete control of myself!” Christiane F.* says as she sniffs her first lines of heroin at the tender age of thirteen. Famous last words! Poor girl just wants to fit in, hang out with cutie Detlev and listen to David Bowie but we all know nothing is that simple. She’s so gorgeous it hurts. Blue eye shadow and crimson lips, skinny vintage jeans, striped socks and heels, a Bowie varsity jacket: she oozes style and confidence but underneath she is so delicate.
Hash leads to Heroin and before you can say hand-job she’s a prostitute addicted along with her rag tag crew and hustler boyfriend. They hang at the Bahnhof Zoo train station turning tricks and getting high . It’s like an after school special to teach the horrors of drugs but damn it’s shot so stylishly. The only thing that bugged me at first was the terrible dub job and cheesy dialogue, but about thirty minutes in I got over it. Oh, and the soundtrack is perfect, all Bowie all the time.
*P.S. It’s based on a true story…
