Noi, i ragazzi dello zoo di Berlino

There's not much else left to say. Cinematography is decent, some of the actors deliver a pretty good performance (Angeline Häntsch, Bruno Alexander, Gerhard Liebmann, Bernd Hölscher) - the main character's, however, is not really convincing at times. Other than that, it's completely overproduced, drifting away from reality since minute 1. A rather cringeworthy take on David Bowie, massive overuse of soundtracks, it just feels like a never ending music video, picking up overly idealized stories of the character's lives. The "Sound" Disco looks more like a high-priced elite club of the 21st century in the US.

It's like they tried to take the whole Stranger Things fictional 80's retro vibe filter featuring fantasy content and apply it to a surprisingly uncritical story about drug addiction of Berlin's troubled youth in the 70's experiencing a mild existential crisis.

They lost me for good when they actually muted Bowie's song Heroes, the masterpiece that was carrying the atmosphere throughout the 1981 film "Christiane F.", after a few seconds just to fade in some somber piano cover of Sia's Chandelier. Not a bad song, but completely misplaced!

And that's one of the problems I have with this adaptation. It's a total overkill of dramatic elements, fake snow, wind machines, close-up shots and fake tears. It's similar to what happens to a good photo when you start tweaking and using Instagram filters...

If you were born in or around the 80s in Germany, there was no way around "Christiane F. - wir Kinder von Bahnhof Zoo". The 1978 book and following 1981 movie was part of the school curriculum to scare students straight about the effects of drugs. And with good reason. The story of Christiane, fast-tracking into Heroin addiction and becoming a prostitute at the age of 13 is shocking and was an important message to tell. Fast forward to now where Amazon took on the material to create a 8 episode series out of it in hope to make the message resound better to a newer generation. And it is an OK experience. Whilst in the original story the cast was small and the people Christiane met were either abusers or her unreliable junkie boyfriend here we get introduced to a group of people. Christiane, who tries to fit in with the cool crowd at school and fast tracking into drugs that way. Stella, the tough girl whose alcoholic mother owns a pub and suffers assault in many different ways. Babsi, a very young posh girl who is suicidal and suffers from the loss of her father. Benno, the dysfunctional boyfriend and a right tosser. Michael, who is there to also take drugs and has a crush on Benno. And Axel, a long haired ginger guy (so you know he is a good one) who is a functioning heroin taker. He's the one that has a job, gets up in time and reminds the others to try to sort out their lives. Add to this the families of all the characters and there is a lot to cover and often the show meanders into too much detail. There are also dream sequences that feel odd. The first scene shows an older Christiane on a private plane party with David Bowie (I think, not much resemblance there) and then it flashes back to "8 years earlier". We never get back to this story and I have no idea why that is in there.

All in all the show is beautifully shot, the acting is great and as with any drug related movie, the soundtrack is incredible. It is time well spent watching it and was quite an effort to make. However, it is let down by its script and writing. Instead of being a shocking display of a horrendous story, the disgusting and horrible parts are played down and the fun parts of drugs, the partying and the coolness of people is amped up. You feel like the makers tried to take a pinch of Tarantino, 24 hour party people, Train Spotting and a lot of Guy Ritchie an make a "cool" version of the story. You don't see much syringe marks or utterly messed up people. People come out fresh as a daisy after a night on the horse. The sugar daddies the girls get are complacent and dysfunctional, not overstepping any agreements. When the group all prostitute themselves they stay freelance - there are no abusive pimps or depictions of the extortion of the already down-on-their-luck people. The biggest criticism has to be that people look too good. The "junkie chic" is strong in this one and even more annoying is that the girls are depicted as much older than they were in reality. I guess making 13 year olds play prostitutes on screen went out of fashion with Taxi Driver. This show is good, but it is too enjoyable to watch. It's been stripped of the realities of the book and padded with too many characters and some B-stories that go nowhere at all. Take 10% of the disgusting depictions in "The Golden Glove" and tone down the "first it is really cool to do drugs..." and you would have had a worthy successor to an incredibly important story.

In the original book Christiane F is a 13 year old child and in the original movie she is played by a little 13 year old girl. so it seems odd that in this version Christiane is played by a 18 year old woman, dressed and groomed like an adult and wearing makeup like a grown woman and yet seems oblivious to the fact that women have periods. it is not a bad show but if you expect anything like the original you will be disappointed.

I believe this series is supposed to happen in a parallel universe, in a fantasy land. Not because of the intentional anachronisms (modern music even though the action is set in the 70s, for example); but because I highly doubt the Berlin shown here has ever existed.

All club scenes seem to be made for people who have never set foot in a techno party. The club itself looks immaculate and everybody has space to dance; nobody is dripping with sweat; and the music is laughably tame (come on, at least play stuff with some edge! This is Berlin!).

The series looks great. Obscenely great. People wear the most wonderful clothes, even though they have no money. A character is about to commit suicide and the scene could be framed and hanged on a wall. There's an orgy party more baroque than the one in Eyes Wide Shut. It's almost admirable, as if the creators have decided: "let's do a story about teenagers getting addicted to drugs and turning to prostitution, but the whole thing will be LIT." Had this been a dare, I could perhaps admire the audacity. But the creators wanna have their cake and eat it, too: so here and there you'll have someone from the young cast looking horrible, beaten, destroyed. It never lasts long though: soon after there'll be more glamorous shots (no pun intended) for the viewer. I kept myself thinking about the incredible make-up abilities of the characters: they manage to go from scabs-in-the-face ugly in one scene to breakfast-with-mom-looking-fresh in the next.

And who's the audience for this? Teenagers who will be scared by the drug world, but might be seduced by the fabulous clothes and cool attitude of the young cast? Adults who want to see an aseptic version of Christiane F.'s story? I honestly don't know. I watched the whole thing wondering that. And now I wonder if there is any reason for this series to exist.

It's so wrong in so many places, I don't know where to start.

The original movie was both, repulsing and fascinating at the same time. It felt true and authentic to Christiane F's life story, described in her book.

This series is the total opposite: a sterile, high gloss wannabe Hollywood version. It shows the horrors of drugs and prostitution in a polished and stylish way. The kids almost never really behave and look drugged and cynically even seem to enjoy prostitution. Why?!

Also it just doesn't feel like the 70's. Contemporary, mostly happy pop music (except of some original Bowie songs) meets modern fantasy boho retro 70ish to 90ish clothing and props style... Not to mention the 21st century interpretation of the kid's disco "Sound". Why?! My guess: the urge to come across original and creative took overhand.

What works with fiction like f.i. "Peaky Blinders", where alternative contemporary music fits perfectly in the raw and brutal 1900s mob scenery, doesn't necessarily work with every story. Especially with true ones it just feels wrong. This has neither much to do with the 70's, nor the book, except the title. If this would be an original fictional story, it might work. But nevertheless for me it lacks interesting characters and a gripping storyline.

This series is mostly about style. The camera is excellent and most of the actors are good, some are implausible (f.i. The David Bowie double). Therefore 3 stars. But please, see for yourself!