Linie 1

It's the same old story once again... young girl from the middle of nowhere comes to the big city to find her dreamboy. In this case, young Nathalie comes to Berlin (with the wall still standing) to find rock singer Johnny, but to no avail. Quite lost in the subway system she crosses paths with several low-lifes, punks, homeless people, dealers. Bambi, small-time dealer with the golden heart, promises to deliver Johnny ("dead or pudding-shaped"). This is an adaption of a successful musical created back in 1985 by the GRIPS theatre, which especially deals in musicals for a younger audience; a play which has achieved cult status in Germany (it is still played occasionally with part of the original cast). The movie adaption features quite a couple of the original musical cast (including Dieter Landuris, who started a TV career afterwards), but several sequences of the musicals are missing (movie is about one-and-a-quarter hour shorter than the stage version), some of the songs were altered, not always to the better, and director Hauff probably was not quite the right man for the job. Anyway, the movie still delivers some laughs, but the stageplay is much better, as it makes its points more clearly. If you're in Berlin, check out the papers if it is performed...