''Berlin Alexanderplatz'' is a 2020

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by Burhan Qurbani. The third

adaptation In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the po ...

Alfred Döblin Bruno Alfred Döblin (; 10 August 1878 – 26 June 1957) was a German novelist, essayist, and doctor, best known for his novel '' Berlin Alexanderplatz'' (1929). A prolific writer whose œuvre spans more than half a century and a wide variety of ...

's influential 1929 novel of the same name, following one in 1931 and a 1980 fourteen-part miniseries, this iteration transposes the story to the modern day with an undocumented immigrant from West Africa in the central role. It was selected to compete for the

Golden Bear The Golden Bear (german: Goldener Bär) is the highest prize awarded for the best film at the Berlin International Film Festival. The bear is the heraldic animal of Berlin, featured on both the coat of arms and flag of Berlin. History The winn ...

in the main competition section at the

70th Berlin International Film Festival The 70th annual Berlin International Film Festival took place from 20 February to 1 March 2020. It was the first under the leadership of new Berlin Film Festival heads, business administration director Mariette Rissenbeek and artistic director C ...

Cast

* Welket Bungué as Francis/Franz, an illegal immigrant from

Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau ( ; pt, Guiné-Bissau; ff, italic=no, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫 𞤄𞤭𞤧𞤢𞥄𞤱𞤮, Gine-Bisaawo, script=Adlm; Mandinka: ''Gine-Bisawo''), officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau ( pt, República da Guiné-Bissau, links=no ) ...

, who wants to start a better life in Germany. *

Jella Haase Jella Haase (born 27 October 1992) is a German actress. She began acting in theatre at a very early age. Her film credits include ', '' Fack ju Göhte'' and '' Combat Girls''. She has also appeared on the television shows ''Polizeiruf 110'' an ...

as Mieze, a prostitute and love-interest of Francis, who is also the narrator of the film *

Albrecht Schuch Albrecht Abraham Schuch (born 21 August 1985) is a German actor. He is the recipient of several accolades, including three German Film Awards, a Bavarian Film Award, and a German Television Award. He has been nominated for a British Academy Fi ...

as Reinhold, a criminal drug dealer *

Joachim Król Joachim Król (, born 17 June 1957 in Herne, West Germany) is a German actor, known for his appearances in the films '' Run Lola Run'', '' Maybe, Maybe Not'', and '' Anne Frank: The Whole Story''. Early life and education Król was born in H ...

as Pums * Annabelle Mandeng as Eva *

Nils Verkooijen Nils is a Scandinavian given name, a chiefly Norwegian, Danish, Swedish and Latvian variant of Niels, cognate to Nicholas. People and animals with the given name * Nils Bergström (born 1985), Swedish ice hockey player * Nils Björk (1898–1989) ...

as Berta * Richard Fouofié Djimeli as Ottu *

Thelma Buabeng Thelma Buabeng (born 31 March 1981 in Ghana) is a German actress. Life Thelma Buabeng grew up with two siblings in Meckenheim (Rhineland), where her family moved to from Ghana in 1984. She passed her high school diploma at the St. Joseph Gymn ...

as Amira * Faris Saleh as Masud *

Lena Schmidtke Lena or LENA may refer to: Places * Léna Department, a department of Houet Province in Burkina Faso * Lena, Manitoba, an unincorporated community located in Killarney-Turtle Mountain municipality in Manitoba, Canada * Lena, Norway, a village in ...

as Elli

Reception

Jessica Kiang for ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' detects some flaws in this update of Alfred Döblin's classic novel of masculine criminal crisis: ″Although promising a deep-cut dash of contemporary topicality by reimagining the main character as an undocumented African immigrant, there is the sense that the unimpeachable craft and performances — especially from rivetingly charismatic lead Welket Bungué — ultimately add up to just too slick a package. (...) For a film that is supposed to be a contemporary update, it can feel — especially in its ill-fated female characters, who are almost all either sex workers or one-night stands of Reinhold's — weirdly out of date. “Men like me have gone out of fashion,” says Pums at one point, and it will take more than a snazzy new set of clothes to complete the overhaul that Qurbani bravely, handsomely, but a little foolhardily attempts."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Berlin Alexanderplatz 2020 films 2020 drama films German drama films Dutch drama films Canadian drama films 2020s German-language films Remakes of German films Films based on German novels Films set in Berlin Entertainment One films Paramount Pictures films Films about immigration to Germany 2020s Canadian films