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"Christiane F"
Christiane F. (1981) is a German made film based on the true story of
Christiane F, brilliantly played by Natja Brunkhorst in her debut performance.
As the film opens, Christiane is 13, living in a broken home with her mother and
sister in a typical Berlin apartment building. She is a huge David Bowie fan,
and longs to visit a Berlin discotheque called Sound. Her girlfriend sneaks her
in, even though she is underage, and that is where she meets Detlev, also played
brilliantly by Thomas Haustein. The two start a weekend relationship. Christiane
worships him, and tries to imitate him, with the first act being a tattoo she
puts on her hand to match his.
This imitative behavior quickly gets out of hand when he starts mainlining
heroine like all of his friends, and she follows suit. When she learns that he
"works" as a male prostitute, but "only gives hand jobs, because
any more and it wouldn't be just work," we know it is inevitable that she
start turning tricks to support their habits. The drug scene is centered around
the main train station, and the film is sometimes called "Christiane F: we
children from the train station Zoo." When Christiane OD's at home, her
mother and her mother's boyfriend finally notice that there is a problem, and
lock Christiane and Detlev in her bedroom to go cold turkey. There first act to
celebrate after getting clean is to visit their friends at the train station and
shoot up.
Yes, I watched another "drugs suck" film ... it seems this is a much
larger genre than I suspected. This one, however, meets my own prejudices for
being acceptable. There is extensive character development where we learn
something of what led the characters to these destructive choices, they don't
make me dizzy with first person POV of the stoned people, and the film ends
leaving some hope. Maltin says 2 1/2 stars, and complains about the included
David Bowie concert material as being unimaginative. Even though this is far
from my favorite genre, I am not sorry I watched it. The film gave good insight
on the process of addiction, and the role peer pressure plays. The had an
excellent dubbed English track, but no subtitles. I would have preferred to
watch it in German, if the subtitles would have been there to help.
Brunkhorst shows buns in a lengthy undressing scene. She also has a see-through
after she vomits wine all over herself and has some pokies. My "top
strips" (8
unique ones) show her progression from clean cut 13 year old, to 14 year old
junkie and drug whore.
Scoop's comments:
I think Tuna described it fairly, except he got the
wrong genre. Probably a bad translation on the dubbing. In fact, I rate it the
top film ever in its genre.
Here's my case. Kid is a sweet, respectful little 13
year old girl, playing with her kitty and her dollies. Then she listens to David
Bowie music, and this causes her to get a tattoo and hang out at the sleazy
train station. Then she goes to a Bowie concert, and it turns her into a crack
ho. Therefore, it isn't a "drugs suck" movie, but a "David Bowie
Sucks" movie. If Tuna's German were better, he could have listened to the
original soundtrack, in which case one can clearly hear people say "Whoa,
mein dude, Herr Bowie saugt."
How does it compare to other movies in this genre:
Velvet Goldmine is really about David Bowie, and the
music sucks, but it isn't really a very good film in the genre because it is
possible to finish that film and still believe that David Bowie doesn't suck.
The Man Who Fell to Earth demonstrated that David Bowie
sucked, but that wasn't the point of the film, and it did so without any music.
At least I don't think that was the point of the film.
Therefore, it may be possible to argue that Christiane
F is the best "David Bowie Sucks" movie ever. In fact, since it
is in mono sound, it makes Bowie suck even worse. Because of this, we should
honor and treasure it as an important artifact of our brief human contribution
to this ancient planet, sort of like the Pieta and the first microwave waffles.
On the technical scale, however, this puppy leaves a
lot to be desired.
- It's supposed to reproduce the 1.75 theatrical
aspect ratio. I couldn't get it to play or capture at that ratio. Therefore,
I had to take letterboxed 720x480 captures, crop them down to the visible
picture, then manually resize each one to a 1.75 aspect ratio. Needless to
say, this was a pain. More to the point, I don't think you'll be able to
watch it at the correct ratio either.
- As Tuna pointed out, there are no English subtitles.
You either watch it in German or in dubbed English.
- Mofo'n picture is too dark.
- Sound is monaural in both languages.
Thumbnails, part 1
Thumbnails, part 2
Thumbnails, part 3
Brunkhorst
(1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7,
8,
9,
10,
11,
12,
13,
14,
15,
16)
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Strippers are the predominant subject of today's caps.
Freak Talks About Sex
Kim O'Mara (1,2,3)
(nudity in #3) is the first stripper, although she does a little acting as well
in Freak Talks about Sex. You first see her in some very tight pants. Have a
close look at the pants in the first collage! I've put in some caps of Heather
McComb as well - no nudity but she fills out a bikini nicely.
Mother of the Bride (1,2)
Unfortunately, we're not told who owns the jumbo jugs at the bucks party in
Mother of the Bride. However, there is a good performance. It's a bit unjust,
Catherine Bell says one line and gets her name in the credits. JJ gives a good
show for a few minutes but we don't even learn her name.
Darcy Lebon
Darcy Lebon is the stripper in The M
Word and, unlike the others, she goes all the way. There's just the slightest
hint of bush here, in the second collage.
Just a Little Harmless Sex
A couple of unknown strippers
in the beginning of Just a Little Harmless Sex. Kimberly
Williams has a few too many to drink and also starts to take off her
clothes. Unfortunately, she was stopped before she went too far.
Keri Russell
Of course, no nudity from Keri Russell
but she does show some nice cleavage in Dead Man's Curve.
Tanya Allen
I think a couple of these caps have appeared before but here's Tanya
Allen in Regeneration comforting a soldier.
Leigh Taylor-Young
I Love You, Alice B. Toklas was made in 1968 so you won't see a lot of nudity.
Leigh Taylor-Young (1,2,3)
plays Alice, a free-thinking hippy. There are some nice see-throughs (that
haven't come out that well in the caps) and a lovely side view.
Anna Friel
Rogue Trader is based on the story of the banker that broke the English bank a
few years ago. The delightful Anna Friel (1,2,3)
plays his wife and gives some brief flashes when they first arrive in Singapore.
Some of these have appeared before but the pokies are new.
Lisa Jakub
Lisa is a little young in Dream House to
be doing nude scenes and they're almost certainly a body double, not that
there's a lot to see. You can use your imagination a bit.
Orgasmo
Orgasmo is one of those 60s Italian dramas that also has a lot of nudity.
Carroll Baker (1,2,3)
(whose voice was dubbed) gets her clothes off and there is the briefest sighting
of a nipple. Colette Descombes was
a bit more generous. The caps came off free-to-air TV so the quality is not the
best.
Nicolette Sheridan
Nicolette Sheridan is shown in two movies, not nude. The first two collages are
from The Devil's Bed (1,2)
and there are some nice pokies. The third collage is from Noises
Off which is a movie about the actors in a theatre play. Nicolette spends
most of the movie in her underwear.
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(Pat Reeder notes: "Now we'll find out if all those "Playmates In
Prison" movies are really true..".)
Former Playmate faces up to life in prison in Miami drug case. Former Playboy
playmate Maria Luisa Gil faces the possibility of life in prison after trying to
help her husband buy cocaine from an undercover federal agent, officials say.
Gil, 23, is charged with conspiracy to possess and distribute cocaine worth
$209,000 (£148,000). She faces a minimum sentence of 5 years and a maximum of
life in prison, a spokeswoman for the US Attorney's office said. Her husband,
Pedro Pajes, 45, was sentenced to life in prison for the same charge on
Wednesday.
A Drug Enforcement Agency affidavit says Gil and her husband tried to buy 11
kilograms of cocaine. Authorities say Pajes, accused of running a cocaine
trafficking business, met with undercover DEA agents in several Miami
restaurants to discuss the
terms of the drug deal. Pajes told the officers that after he got the drugs, his
wife would meet with them at another location to pay them, the affidavit said.
The couple was arrested in January.
The Cuban-born Gil appeared in Playboy's June 1998 issue. She is scheduled to be
sentenced on July 31.
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