Christiane F. is based off of an Autobiography written by the real Christiane Felscherinow. Her mother was never home and father left when she was around 8 years old, so Christiane looked for other people in her life to fulfill it. At 12, she started smoking, and drinking. At 13, she started taking harder drugs such as pills and heroin, and at 14 she became a prostitute to help support her heroin addiction. 

Christiane’s story is shown so clearly and in depth that it puts you right into Berlin during the 1970’s. The movie does an incredible job at putting the audience in the real scenery, since the majority of the movie was filmed on location and using real prostitutes and addicts. The movie is filmed in a documentary style due to Germany's strict privacy laws at the time. While filming at Bahnhof Zoo, a train station located on the West side of Germany, the camera crew would use a cardboard box to cover up the camera, and be pushed in a wheelchair so they could get shots for the movie without getting in trouble by the police. 

Christiane F- Wir Kinder vom Banhof Zoo is a compelling movie which doesn't just show Christiane life, but also the other thousands of young children who turned to drug abuse and prostitution to avoid the reality of living in a divided country. The cold war had turned Germany into a West and East side, split by only a wall. The west side of Germany for four decades had been riddled with a depressive state. Majority of Children on the West side felt like their lives had no value. At the beginning of 1970, Berlin had only had under 50 heroin related deaths, in 1977 there were over 500, all under the age of 18. 

Christiane F.- Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo, is widely recognized as an accurate portrayal of teenage drug abuse and withdrawal which I believe everyone should watch once. The movie doesn't dance around addiction, it takes it head on, and addresses how dangerous it is. The movie and book opened peoples eyes to the reality of living in a depressed country, with barely any quality of life.