MovieChat Forums > Christiane F. - Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo (1981) Discussion > Film references in Christiane F.

Film references in Christiane F.

posted 20 years ago by erlend2
4 replies | jump to latest

Hi,

At the beginning of "Christiane F.", the kids hangs out at a movie theatre. In two separate scenes we see glimpses of two different films. The first one possibly a vampire or zombie film in black and white: a daughter transformed is approaching her mother with outstretched arms, and the mother looks very scared and backs off. This film is dubbed into German. The second film, also in black and white, might be "Nosferatu" (1922), but I'm not certain. From a camera angle outside in the street, we see some people closing their shutters to the outside world. If this is indeed "Nosferatu", the thematic function of these two films ought to be clear enough: vampirism/zombiehood being metaphors for the life as a junkie.

But my question is, which two films are being referenced here?

[–] phantomF-12 20 years ago

The first Film that we see in the movie theatre of the "Sound" is "The Night of the Living Dead" (1968) by George A. Romero. But the 2 Scenes that we see in the film are not in the same order as they are in the actual film. Infact the scene of the girl killing the mother comes after that of the main character running down the stairs towards the door.

Regarding the second film, I myself would like to know which film it may be.

[–] erlend2 20 years ago

Thanks for that info, phantom. Having seen "Night of the Living Dead" perhaps 5-6 times, it was extremely unobservant of me not to notice.

[–] TheCineSinge 12 years ago

7 years late, I know, but I'm confident the OP is right with Nosferatu. I've watched it recently and it sprang straight to mind when I saw those few shots the kids were watching in the theatre.

[–] laurendbrnx2005 14 years ago

The movie theater is within the club Sound. There were two different rooms with two different movies going on. One an old '50s horror and the other a silent film where you see people closing shutters to the outside world with only music playing and no dialogue. These I felt were symbolic of Christiane's life: Her father was abusive (possibly on drugs or alcohol???) and left the mother, her sister abandoned her to go live with the father, her mother took on a younger male lover and ignored Christiane's emotional needs but did get her the Bowie concert tickets. Christiane came to her mother with outstretched arms and her mother backed off, in other words found other interests (Klaus) and couldn't even get on with baking a cake with Christiane for just one evening without needing the lover around also, much to Christiane's chagrin. The mother's lover Klaus did try to bond with Christiane and even gave her a Bowie album not knowing that she already had that same album and picked her up off the floor when she had passed out from shooting heroin and put her in bed. So Christiane was closing shutters to the outside world. So it was all about Christiane.