Berlin Calling

Berlin Calling:

            Berlin Calling is a movie that depicts the life events of a famous DJ. Here are the answers to some of the questions that have been asked:

Question 1: What do drugs mean to Ickarus?

            Drugs mean everything to Ickarus. All day long he is on them, because they allow him to stay awake and perform well in the daily tasks of his busy life. Being on these drugs for so long just make it something that he was to do, he thinks he needs them.

Question 2: When, why, and how are his fans taking drugs, and which drugs do they take?

            Many of the fans at the night clubs are doing drugs in the bathrooms during and after his performance. So far, I have seen people shooting up heroin and snorting cocaine in the stalls. Some are smoking weed and some are just straight up popping pills.

Question 3: While we can see that his drug habits get him ill and into psychosis, and while we witness his relapse and inability to work successfully, why does the subculture Ickarus belongs to focus on drugs?

            Drugs make you sort of leave this world and feel as if you are on “Cloud 9.” The fact that he is in the art of making music makes it feel that much more needed. The mind will hallucinate and wander in these types of situations.

Question 4: Compare the standards you know from your home society with the people you see depicted in this movie. Which are the stark differences and contrasts?

            It seems sort of acceptable to being doing these types of drugs there. In the U.S., or at least around here, doing these drugs in public would never fly.  The places that they do these drugs are dirty, run down places and they look super sketchy. Not a place that I would ever want to go.

Question 5: Germany is considered a strong industrial nation the world over. Do you think that the youth culture as depicted here could change that? How about work ethics of Ickarus and of Alice, the label director who fires and then resigns him?

            The society that is depicted in this movie just looks like an economy run by drug money and based on a society of users. The work ethic of Ickarus is sometimes really good, and sometimes very poor. Sometimes when he is on drugs, they help him to go for hours on end working on things, and sometimes they make him groggy and not productive. You can tell that Alice is worried about him, and she wants him to stop using.

Question 6: Which similar “cult movies” of US origin have you seen, if any?

            To the best of my recollection, I don’t recall seeing any cult movies, ever.

So far the movie has been culturally interesting, there are some many differences here than there are there. I think the difference that shocked me the most, was how many people did such serious drugs and how they acted as if they were nothing. They do these drugs in public places, not really worrying if they get caught or not.