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Dom Robinson reviewsChristiane FA true story.Distributed bySecond 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
Christiane Fis both the film title and the name of the girl brilliantly portrayed in thistrue story by the Natalie Portman-esque Natja Brunckhorst.
Life as a teenager isn’t easy at the best of times, but it’s not helpedif you’re hooked on all sorts of narcotics after trying something simplebefore moving on to the hard stuff. Christiane’s spiral downwards occursat the new “Sound” nightclub where she goes with a friend and meetsher other half, rent-boy Detlev (Thomas Haustein), with whom she begins asexual relationship at a mere fourteen years of age, but agrees only to doso if he promises not to take any “H”, a drug that will give you a seriousmindfuck.
Obsessed with pop star David Bowie, the man appears himself with manyof his songs being played at a concert, after which Christiane sinks intoprostitution 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-anamorphicand comes across looking fairly grim. This isn’t a bad thing as it’s not thefault of the encoding, but is just the way the film is meant to be. It’s nota 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 finebut never overreaches itself, but if you knew the plot when you picked thisup you wouldn’t be expecting SFX ahoy!
Extras : Chapters :A fairly decent number here – 20 across the 2hr+ running time. Languages and Subtitles :The original German language and optional English subtitles. Good to see thatSecond Sight have obtained a clean print to which they may or may not beadded instead of one with burnt-in subtitles.
When it comes to the English translations, some of the scenes which wouldnormally provoke more harsh phrases seem quite toned down.
And there’s more… :The Lobby Card Gallery contains just eight stills from the film,but the Production Notes provide plenty of info about the tragic storyfor those, like me, who knew nothing about it beforehand. Menu :Silent and static with a shot of Christiane’s face against a blue background.
Overall, this is a haunting and disturbing story even if you’re one of thosepeople who don’t go in for subtitled movies. I presume the BBFC allowed usto see needles piercing the skin when injecting because it shows thenegative 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 sortof film that’s destined for many Blockbuster stores. For the rest, the filmis worth keeping as a purchase, but it’s a shame there are no more extras.
PICTURE QUALITY
SOUND QUALITY
EXTRAS
OVERALL
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.