BERLIN NOW, by Wolfgang Büld, takes a trip through the bizarre tapestry of what was once West Berlin - a city riddled with empty lots and free space and surrounded by a wall. Berlin embodied a culture of its own, one which resisted the whitewash that politicians and city officials are so fond of administering in the name of “cultivation”. This was a city with a singularly strange attraction to the “rubble aesthetic” that was perhaps a last echo of Romanticism's preoccupation with ruins. The camera takes in some of West Berlin's most well known landmarks, some of which are truly grotesque. For example the ICC center for trade fairs, whose space age aesthetic tries to be groovy but ended up square – a style that to this day typifies the “new” Berlin. Sometimes the camera lingers on a well known city trademark and makes it look like a wonderful new discovery. The film comes back again and again to the Berlin sounds and musicians who make them, and rightly so. For they accurately describe the old “West” - inhospitable and raw as it was - as a space where living and creating could exist side by side. BERLIN NOW delivers what the title promises, a slice of time, a snap shot of Berlin during the wall. With Blixa Bargeld, Einstürzende Neubauten, Mona Mur, and FM Einheit.
Original Title: Berlin Now
Language:
German original version
Country of Origin: Germany
Year : 1985
Duration: 58 Min.
color
Director: Wolfgang Büld, Sissi Kelling
Script: Wolfgang Büld, Sissi Kelling
Camera: Roland Willaert, Andreas Thiel
Editing: Wolfgang Büld, Sissy Kelling
Sound: Raul Grass
Music: Blixa Bargeld, Stefan Will, D.A.F., Sex Pistols, Lou Reed
Starring/Featuring: Blixa Bargeld, Einstürzende Neubauten, Mona Mur, Mike Vamp, Alexander Hacke, N.U. Unruh, FM Einheit, Sprung aus den Wolken, Matador, Die Haut, Santrra, Die Schlampen
Production: TAMT Tokyo, Stein Film, Gerd Stein, Hidenori Hayashi, Katja Gaede, Barbara Miler
In this movie Wolfgang Büld bridges gaps between different types of filmmmaking: underground vs TV movie of the week fare, with a bit of exploitation movie to spice up the mix. Büld studied film in Munich and gained a reputation for his insider take on the music scene with works such as: 'Punk in London' (1977), 'Reggae in Babylon' (1978), 'British Rock' (1979) and BERLIN NOW (1985) . He made a feature film in 1983 about “Neue Deutsche Welle” music titled 'Gib Gas - Ich will Spaß”, a title that is a good description of that successful phase in Büld's career. 'Der Formel Eins Film' followed in 1985 . He triumphed in 1991 with 'Manta, Manta' and the TV series 'Und Tschüss!' for the popular German TV broadcaster RTL. Bülds oeuvre also includes “Go Trabi Go 2” (1992).
In 2003, Büld started his own production company 'Dark Black Films', a venue for creating his own movies. He based his company on role models Russ Meyer, Jess Franco and Brian de Palma. His low budget projects, which unabashedly revolve around sex and violence, ('Penetration Angst', 'Lovesick: Sick Love', 'Twisted Sisters') have an international fan base.
Blixa Bargeld, front man of Einstürzende Neubauten
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