Fucking Berlin

95 minutes of cheesy cliches, a plot that drags along without much tension or character development, jokes only the actors can laugh about, holes and illogicalities in the plotline and a main actress that doesn't match her role at all. She would be a good fit for the rich daughter of some industrialist in a "Rosamunde Pilcher" episode that meets her prince on some white horse while managing the family hotel - rather not for a promiscuous italian prostitute.

I have to say, that I do see the points which are criticize by so many ratings. But I also see a movie that portraits the feeling of coming and living in Berlin as an outsider, in an incredible accurate way.

The plot, more the scripting of it does use a lot of clichees, but it also makes you sympathize with the main character. The cast does give me an authentic feeling of being in Berlin, whether its a club, a bar or a park.

I see the movie as a sign for how misunderstood this branch of work is and how much work is still left, until we all can accept each other and the decisions we are making in our lives.

Judging by the title, Sex and the City might be more fitting. Actually judging by the movie overall that is. Even if at times it seems to not take the subject matter seriously (like the first steps into the Camgirl-verse, where a compilation suggests this is a farce or a comedy, rather than a drama) ... but just because there is a lot of humor in this, it does not mean it is has not some heavy themes that it throws your way.

Usually I am a bit wary when it comes to tonal changes in movies. But I think this one handles itself quite well. The changes in rhythm and in pace do work fine. There is a lot of nudity if that matters to you one way or another, but it is to emphatize what this is about. And there are a lot of weird and kinky things discussed and displayed ... this is for sure not for the faint of hearted ... be very aware of that!

The problem i see in the movie is with the casting: the actress that plays Sonja is just too normal, with model-like looks, whereas the author of the novel was much more peculiar. "Einsam in Berlin" -- an Italian, with rather voluptuous looks, she must have felt a bit isolated in Berlin, which eventually lead to the lifestyle. I think there is a disconnect because of the casting. Even if the book material might have not been very dramatic (being a biography, not a story), the movie is actually very watchable. The soundtrack, the city are beautiful, you see a snapshot of everyday berlin for younger, poorer people.

It's really a story about a lonely woman in berlin, during the age of legal prostitution and as berlin becomes a meltpot of its own. The layer of people that she meets might be very specific, but they are out there: the immigrants, the drug addicts, people from poorer regions. Perhaps the author wanted to separate her 'normal life' from her 'prostitution life' -- so we don't see much of interaction with her friends at school, or, perhaps, the author was autistic enough to be in a more isolated position, and the 'prostitution' life filled the friendless void.

But in essence, the movie gives a different angle on a woman and a city, not that glamorous as 'Sex & City', but there are layers in the society, and the movie captured one of them. The layers are different, the upshots of the stories are very similar.

First of all, this is a movie full of drama and in the story is well integrated in the script. The actress is young and sonehow naïve and that can be seen in her life's journey. I like it's raw, cold picturing of how quick a wrong decision can change one's life. The cinematics with the beautiful Berlin, the good acting and the drama make a good mix.