Berlin Calling

1.  Ickarus takes drugs because it is something that is relaxing to him.

2.  Why:  His friends take drugs to relax and have a good time.  It enhances their experience of partying. 

What:  Ickarus and his friends are taking cocaine, ecstasy, kematine, LSD, and PMA.

3.  They focus on drugs because they feel like this is the only way to get a better experience while partying.  Once they experience these drugs, it’s extremely hard to stop using them. 

4.  Similar:  There is partying currently in our society.  While partying there is also drug use going on.  Sometimes in our society, people who intended to use drugs recreationally, become addicted and form a problem.

Different:  The drug seen in clubs is a little more open in Europe then America.  The act of sex is also more open in Europe.  In America, it is a little more private.

5.  I think the youth in this movie could change the culture of society for the worse if they never grew out of the drug and partying stage.  If they were continuously irresponsible, nothing would get accomplished when it was time for their generation to run the economy.  Alice and Ickarus are two very driven people.  They worked extremely hard to get Ickarus’s album finished.  The label director is also a hard worker.  Even though she fires Ickarus, she was just looking out for what’s best for the record label.  She is a very serious business woman. 

6.  I have currently not seen any American “cult” movies. 

          This movie is a little different from what I’m used to seeing in American movies.  It took me by surprise sometimes and other times I was caught off guard by what was on the screen.  I felt it was a little slow and repetitive at parts and a little uncomfortable at others.  Although it was not my favorite movie that I’ve seen, it showed the reality of the club and drug scene in Europe.  I did appreciate how the producers definitely didn’t hold anything back when they filmed this movie.  That is one thing that American movies don’t really do a good job of because a movie like this would cause uproar in American society.  Usually in American rated R movies, there is a lot of swearing and some nudity.  In this movie there was way more than the average American movie.  One of the huge differences I noticed was that there was a large amount of sexuality shown throughout the movie.  There was a range of intercourse between homosexuals, heterosexuals, and both together.  This was one aspect of the movie that was very noticeable.  It is just something that we are not openly exposed to in America.  I believe this movie portrayed that Europe is a very open country about certain interests.  America likes to keep things private and I noticed this to be a big difference in the countries.  Another difference that I noticed was the open drug use.  In America there is obviously drug use, but I feel like it is mostly done behind closed doors.  Even though it is not very common in American movies to show a ton of drug use, I’m glad this movie did.  I think if people were exposed to the harsh reality of what drug abuse can lead to, people would think twice before using.  Although the movie made me uncomfortable at points, I was glad I had the opportunity to view this and be exposed to some of the European culture.