The closing night special of this year’s German Film Festival is a spectacular story of one man’s fight for a better life. Don’t be put off by the film’s length, nudging just under three hours. It’s a pacy rollercoaster through a decadent and destructive charm of Berlin.
Francis (played by Welket Bungué) has survived an escape from Guinea Bissau; he’s washed up on a beach in the south of Europe after an illegal crossing over the Mediterranean Sea. He makes his way to Berlin as an undocumented refugee where the only work he finds is back breaking and the conditions, dangerous. Francis and friend Ottu (played by Richard Fouofié Djimeli) are two of many immigrants treated mercilessly. Francis has ambition, and is angered when brought down by the small mindedness of those around him. When his anger shows and indirectly causes serious injury to a fellow colleague, Ottu sells him out to management and Francis is fired.
Having been noticed by a serial dealer and pimp Reinhold (played by Albrecht Schuch) who lurks about the construction site, Francis comes under his influence. Despite what Francis has already endured on his journey so far, he doesn’t want to jump at the first, and unlawful, opportunity that comes his way. He wants to break from the shackles of persecution that continually plague him. Now broke and vulnerable, he becomes Reinhold’s deputy, being his protector and a target of ridicule. Besides, Reinhold may have the connections for Francis to finally obtain a passport and be truly free.
But the world he now inhabits is all too similar – rubbing shoulders with drug dealers and killers and even more closer with the police. When he meets charismatic nightclub owner Eva (played by Annabelle Mandeng) and escort Mieze (played by Jella Haase), he feels he has finally found a little bit of happiness – precisely what Reinhold begrudges him. Following an altercation that puts his life in jeopardy, Francis is moved to the safer location of Mieze’s apartment to lay low and recover. Initially disinterested in her new house guest, Mieze and Francis develop a deep connection, adding another layer to this already rich epic of a journey through the dark night of the soul and Francis’ city of exile.
A slick modern adaptation of Alfred Döblin’s influential 1929 novel, Berlin Alexanderplatz is a poetic fable about the futility of ambition and morality.
Berlin Alexanderplatz is having its Australian premiere at closing night of the 2021 German Film Festival, Sunday 20 June at Palace Barracks and Palace James Street. Check your local guides for screening times.
NOMINATED: Best Film, Berlin International Film Festival 2020
WINNER: European Composer, European Film Awards 2020
WINNER: Best Supporting Actor, Best Film Score, Best Production Design, Best Cinematography, Outstanding Feature Film Silver Award, German Film Awards 2020
WINNER: Best Film Score, Best Editing, German Film Critics Association Awards 2021
WINNER: Best Actor, Best Film, Stockholm Film Festival 2020
NOMINATED: European Screenwriter, European Film, European University Film Award, European Film Awards 2020
About Berlin Alexanderplatz
Rating: 18+
Min: 183 min
Language: English, German with English subtitles
Directed by Burhan Qurbani
Written by Martin Behnke, Burhan Qurbani
Stars Jella Haase, Welket Bungué, Albrecht Schuch, Joachim Król, Annabelle Mandeng, Richard Fouofié Djimeli
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