Christiane F.

Shocking portrait of Berlin's drug scene

Natja Brunckhorst plays Christiane with devastating directness, her vulnerability inseparable from a stubborn will to survive. The film captures the junkie life with a cold, almost documentary calm, making the decline feel banal rather than sensational. David Bowie's music floats through the story like a distorted lifeline, glamour filtered through decay. What remains is a harsh coming-of-age experience, in which innocence quietly crumbles, compromise by compromise.