Review: LINIE-1, StudioCanal - DVD & Blu-ray

Photo credit: StudioCanal

A brand-new restoration of the German cult classic LINIE-1 has recently been released on DVD and Blu-ray for the first time in the UK. 

You would be forgiven for not being familiar with this musical but originally performed on stage in Berlin in 1986, it is the second most successful German musical after Bertolt Brecht’s Threepenny Opera, with music written by Birger Heymann and text by Volker Ludwig.

LINIE-1 is the story of Sunnie, who leaves her provincial hometown to find rock musician Johnnie, after getting pregnant following a one-night stand. She ends up at Berlin’s chaotic Zoo station where she gets stuck on underground Line-1 (hence the musical’s title), encountering all kinds of urban characters from hipsters to pimps, punks, drunks, and rap queens who all help her on her quest to find her mysterious lover.

Starring Inka Victoria Groetschel as Sunnie, Johannes Krisch as Johnnie and Petra Zieser in multiple roles, the movie musical, initially released in 1988, has the occasional use of dated language and opinions, compared to current ideals.

Directed by Reinhard Hauf (Berlin Film Festival Golden Bear winner for Stammheim), the film is a harsh critique of a divided Germany before the fall of the Berlin Wall, whilst also celebrating the vibrant and unique bohemia in the literal underground of the city.

If you love anything 80’s, then this is the film for you! 

With a catchy soundtrack (the lyrics are very funny if you can keep up with the subtitles), great performances all round and quirky characters within a considerably basic plot line, LINIE-1 is an enjoyable insight into retro life in a confined Germany.

**** Four stars.

Reviewed by: Rachel Louise Martin

LINIE-1 is available now on DVD, Blu-Ray, and download here.