Stadt als Beute

The big big trouble with this movie that it pretends to show Berlin as it "really" is, but any recent Berlin-Resident knows after 20 Minutes that none of the three directors lived in Germany's Capital for more than two weeks. This comes with a lot of provincial prejudices , claims to be innovative but in the end is just plain annoying and reactionary....which is a big shame because Renee Pollesch who made a fantastic piece of theatre under the same name is such a huge talent and wasting this opportunity to work with him in such an ignorant way should be punished! The only standout-performance here comes from Inga Busch, possibly not knowing how terrible the final cut is going to be! Avoid and go see Pollesch live instead!

First of all, I've got to correct some facts on this film, as seen on this web-page: It was not directed by a guy named Peter, but by a group of three young female directors named Irene von Alberti, Miriam Dehne and Esther Gronenborn. Each one of them has written and directed one of the episodes, which where composed to a continual narrative. Every episode is about one of the members of the Prater-ensemble (to them, who don't know: Prater is a small off-mainstream stage in Kastanienallee /Berlin Prenzlauer Berg, a part of the city well-known as a students district with lots of bars, night-clubs and fashion-stores, but also high unemployment). They are rehearsing René Polleschs "Stadt als Beute" / "city as a prey", which was staged at Prater in 2001. It's about linking life to work, dealing with the consequences neo-liberalism and cutting your way through urban jungle. Everyone in there is playing a role modeled after his or her role within the theater. F.e. René, the director of the show is not only based on Prater-manager René Pollesch, but he as well impersonates his fictionalized character. He's the center of this film, the mastermind of German post-dramatic theater, the inventor of a very specific way of staging todays problems (I doubt he's a genius, but he's avantgarde for sure). The language is a mixture of scientific terms, business talk and highly emotional shouting, used for catharsis. In my opinion it's worth seeing this movie, especially if you are planning to visit Germanys capital, because it's story and characters are so closely linked with their urban environment: Lizzy (Inga Busch) is searching for love without prostitution, Marlon (Richard Kropf) tries to find a lost child and a way to cope with the complex text and every one is waiting for OhBoy (David Steller), a male stripper, to show up at at last and join rehearsals. Meanwhile he's walking the city, losing his text, his temper, his fears and his text. When he's finally coming, everyone else is so angry with him, that there's no way out of the emotional situation than a all-against-one-fight in the men's room. Big fun, good music, some really funny lines and - best thing about it - Berlin as never shown before: how it's really like (sometimes).