Directed by:
Philipp KadelbachCinematography:
Jakub BejnarowiczCast:
Lena Urzendowsky, Jeremias Meyer, Jana McKinnon, Michelangelo Fortuzzi, Bruno Alexander, Lea Drinda, Sebastian Urzendowsky, Angelina Häntsch, Nik Xhelilaj (more)Episodes(8)
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Puppies (E01)
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Christmas (E02)
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Bowie (E03)
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Letters (E04)
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4000 a Month (E05)
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One Last Hit (E06)
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When the Night Comes (E07)
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Dawn (E08)
Plots(1)
Christiane, Stella, Babsi, Axel, Michi and Benno find each other in the intoxicating clubs and underground parties of Berlin. They are strong, courageous and living wildly in this 'paradise' – one that initially appears to be a riot of colour, daring and excitement. At the centre of the group is Christiane whose life is torn apart by the devastating separation of her parents. She escapes her home only to find herself slipping into a seductive underworld. As the group's bond intensifies they hedonistically chase the next thrill, navigating their way through euphoric highs and dark, dangerous lows. While their lives and relationships expand and unravel, their individual traumas drag them into a tailspin that some of them will never escape. (HBO Europe)
(more)Reviews (3)
I'm probably too old for these filmmaker nonsense. When I see We Children from Bahnhof Zoo, I expect a period story full of human filth, sadness, and depression. And all this with respect to the story. Not a stylish young adult event about drugs, which are actually cool, and where you don't really see the impacts on those kids, whose actors are about ten years older than they should be and still look so beautiful as if some vampire stigma from the Twilight era was affecting them. Moreover, I was incredulously shaking my head the whole time because in order to support style and focus on targeting young people, the 80s are combined with the present here. So it leads to absurdities like playing regular contemporary techno at the local nightclub Sound and the next day having a concert of David Bowie at the same nightclub. And then there's Prague, Smíchov station, parents of children who are acting a few years older and you feel like you wouldn't recognize their age... well, as I said at the beginning. I'm probably too old for this. Even if I detach myself from the original subject, I still have the impression that this is total nonsense. The only thing that is explicitly good about it is surprisingly the soundtrack.
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After 40 years, the new serial adaptation of the infamous anti-drug manifesto We Children from Bahnhof Zoo has revived the memory of the first film adaptation and the social shock that, with the passage of time, also reached Czechoslovakia. During the 1970s, the death rate of child drug addicts in West Berlin increased rapidly. Those numbers rose from about 50 to 750 in just a decade, and shocking newspaper headlines stated that these drug addicts, thieves, and prostitutes are often under the age of 15. The message itself has such a strong appeal that it must not be forgotten. Yet precisely because it is primarily aimed at uneducated adolescents, it is necessary to update the adaptation to a form that communicates with them in a sufficiently transparent way and is not in a simplified and black-and-white educational form. The team around director Philipp Kadelbach decided to make a few compromises. The nightlife associated with the Sound disco really doesn't look like it did in the 70s, and the main cast is chosen from much older performers than their archetype. The parents of the main "protagonist" Christiane F. look like her siblings (sure, the parents of an actual twelve-year-old girl can barely be in their thirties, especially back then, but the Czech Christiane F. looks much older, which is why the casting is so distracting). Nevertheless, the expected pros, which are offered by the mere decision that a relatively short book of only 300 pages will be treated in eight almost hour-long films, are there. There is indeed enough time to portray the setting, the phases of addiction, and the individual fates of Christiane F's friends. The life and death of Axel and Babsi is heartbreaking even without the embellishment. In the film transcript, there is virtually no room left for adult characters, for the school, for rehab centers, or for the police. The teenage addicts seemed to live and die in spite of reality, but they were necessarily responding to their families, schools, and institutions that made life on the streets difficult for them. The first episodes were awkward, but as a whole, the new miniseries about the children from the Zoo station holds its own.
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Firstly, I have to clarify that this is my first experience with children from Bahnhof Zoo. The cult book and the movie are still waiting for me. And honestly, I'm glad that's the case. I simply watched a new and excellent story that is brilliantly shot, without unnecessary comparisons and without looking at distracting details to see what I can criticize compared to the original. It would have robbed me of the experience I had. So it doesn't stick to the original book? And why should it? In each episode, it is clearly stated that it is a loose inspiration and it is not the intention of the series to copy the book. The story is strong and I am glad the creators decided to dust it off for younger viewers. It's a work of high quality, from the acting performances (as though all the characters were tailored to the actors), to the cinematography, the colors, the scenery, and the outstanding music. It is the more contemporary songs that fit stylistically into the whole concept of how the series is conceived and portrayed, and I really enjoy how the seventies are portrayed. I devoured every episode of this series and I will be happy to return to it again sometime.
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