BERLIN ON SCREEN

Few moments in modern history are more cinematic than the fall of the Berlin Wall. Start with the disbelieving expressions on the faces of East Berliners, having just cleared a barrier they could have been shot for approaching moments prior. Then you have the images of all Berliners celebrating astride the graffitied divide, joyfully destroying what kept them apart.

It’s fitting then that two decades on we look to the cinema this event inspired. To mark the 20-year anniversary of the wall's toppling, London’s Barbican Centre put together “Behind the Wall”, a two-weekend film programme that examined the Wall’s lasting political and cultural implications.

The series included Michael Ballhaus and Ciro Cappellari’s 2009 documentary "In Berlin". Instead of looking back, this film paints a picture of Berlin today. The cast solidifies the city's stereotype as a breeding ground for the arts, full of actors, authors, musicians, fashion designers, artists and architects. The only exceptions on screen are a personable Turkish shopkeeper and Berlin’s mayor, Klaus Wowereit (who, in one scene, must fend off a woman who is angry about the economic climate). Eclectic though they may be, these characters fail to elicit as much interest as the city itself. This seems to be the intent, as we get only glimpses of these lives as they unfold amid the streets of the German capital.

Recurring themes emerge, such as descriptions of the city's gritty ugliness that are mixed with pride—it is “a damaged collage of modular components from various eras,” one resident observes. Peter Schneider, an author in the film, explains, “I love Berlin precisely because it is not a harmonious city.” But despite these many allusions to Berlin’s less-than-Parisian good looks, the camera (guided as it is by Ballhaus, an acclaimed cinematagropher ) argues otherwise, bathing the screen in ice-blue cityscapes, chic minimalist interiors and the faded architectural glory of buildings awaiting reincarnation.

“Every 20 meters we’re driving through a section of history,” says Wolfram Putz, a founding partner of GRAFT, a German architecture firm, while battling the traffic snaking through the heart of Berlin. “I frequently just drive this street, even though it’s not the best route, simply to drive it. It’s like driving through a fairytale.” Putz is working on multiple commissions throughout the city, and points to monuments once redolent with historical connotations. “The Brandenburg Gate [isn’t] a touristic, Prussian architectural icon,” he says, “but rather the backdrop for the soccer festival or the Love Parade.”

"In Berlin" does not draw any conclusions, which is just as well, given the complexity of its subject. If there is a point, it’s that this “fairtytale” is still working on its happy ending. Yet these colourful residents seem content to be a little more discontent than most.

"Behind the Wall" runs through November 16th. An exhibition of posters called Down with the Wall! is on view through November 20th.

~ MELISSA GOLDSTEIN

Picture credit: Stills from "In Berlin"