Berlin Calling Movie Questions

April Anderson

Berlin Calling Movie Questions

1. What do drugs mean to Ickarus?

When Ickarus takes drugs, he believes he will be able to create more unique beats for his music, making him more marketable and popular in the German party/techno scene. The drugs free his mind and make him able to come up with the new beats for his album.

2. Why, when, and how are his fans taking drugs, and which drugs do they take?

The fans of Ickarus are most commonly seen taking drugs at the clubs where he is the DJ. They typically are crushing pills and snorting the lines, and I believe they take them mostly to “feel” the music and just lose themselves in the moment. To “feel good”. The drugs alter their state of mind, just like Ickarus when making his new album. However, people also sell and do drugs at home. These people are drinking various kinds of alcohol, and lots of different hard drugs like cocaine, ecstasy, ketamine, and more.

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

I think the main reason the techno/party subculture focuses on drugs because the drugs and music make these people feel good, as I mentioned earlier. They ignore the negative side effects to feel good for the moment.

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?

I grew up in a very small town, and was taught at home to never do drugs at all, because they're bad for me and addictive. We are taught in school not to do drugs or alcohol as well. People in my home society also like being in clean environment, whereas these places in the movie seemed dark and kind of dirty. Especially in the bathrooms, where people were doing drugs and having shameless, carefree, and most likely unprotected sex in filthy bathroom stalls. Although this happens in the United States in some certain places too, it just seems so much more “common” in Germany after watching Berlin Calling.

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 re-signs him?

I most definitely do believe the upcoming youth culture depicted in the movie could change the status of Germany in the world. The movie shows that drugs and dirty work are involved in business and so many things, and eventually that’s not going to work out well. If an entire generation of youth grows up with these ideals, and the following generations to come, I could really see that as a downfall. However, I also would not believe that everybody in Germany is under the influence of drugs? I could be wrong, I’ve never been there.

6. Which similar "cult movies" of US origin have you seen, if any?

Off the top of my head, I’m not remembering all of the “cult” movies I’ve seen. One that probably could fit into this category, however, would be The Town, which is relatively new and a movie that I absolutely love. There are drugs involved, much like in Berlin Calling, and it’s about men involved in robberies with past histories together and revenge. I highly recommend watching this. 

Ecstasy












Cocaine

Ketamine