Three movies to get the first glimpse of Berlin

I would like to start with 2003's Good Bye, Lenin! as during my stay in Berlin I had the chance to talk with various people about life in Berlin before and after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. The movie is a tragicomedy depicting life in East Berlin before and after the fall of the wall. The protagonist, Alex Kerner, lives with his mother, a loyal member of the Communist Party, in East Berlin. Following a heart attack, the mother falls into a coma for a few months and misses the November Revolution. Borders are open, the wall falls, Capitalism comes to East Berlin. As the mother wakes up, Alex makes every effort to avoid the mother to discover the fall of the German Democratic Republic, as the societal changes might cause her another heart attack. The movie is a comedy, which satire deals with nostalgia for a country that no longer exists, the euphoria of freedom, and the wiredness of Capitalism. The movie was mainly shot in Karl-Marx-Allee and around Plattenbauten near Alexanderplatz.

The second movie is (1987) Wing of Desire by German director Wim Wenders. The inspiration for the film came from art depicting angels around West Berlin the Victory Column is one example. The plot is about two angels wandering around the city of Berlin, unheard and unseen, listening and observing the life of its citizens. After falling in love, one of the two angels decides to shed his immortality to start experiencing human life in all his beauty and difficulty. It was filmed in Wear Germany before the fall of the wall in actual places such as the Berlin State Library.

The last movie I suggest you have a particularity that makes it mesmerizing. 2015 Victoria, directed by Sebastian Schipper, filmed by Sturla Brandth Grøvlen, and starring Laia Costa and Friedrich Lau, is one of the few films ever realized to be shot in a single continuous take. We follow a newly arrived in Berlin, Victoria, following a group of real Berliners during the whole night. Victoria agrees to help the group of friends planning on robbing a bank that night. The movie was shot entirely three times, from 4:30 am to 7:00 am, and each time it worked out. During the 2 hours and 18 minutes duration, we are dragged around Berlin at night in particular we will see famous Kreuzberg and Mitte neighborhoods.

This is my selection of films taking place in Berlin. I picked out films differentiating in style, period, and topic. A further selection of films can be found at the following article: https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2011/aug/17/top-10-films-set-in-berlin.