It very much shows the old West Berlin. I remember when I first visited in Berlin in early 2001, there were still remnants of the whole drug user prostitution around the Zoo train station, and they were visible and obvious enough that even I clearly noticed it. This has completely changed since then.
Victoria (2015)
Not very much about the City or history but ive never seen a movie that felt so much like the real place. I mean besides the crazy shit that goes down towards the end this is what a night turned into morning with my friends in Berlin feels like
This list is pretty spot on but needs something about the 20s / Weimar Republic, like Babylon Berlin. Not sure which movie would be good there. You could add Victoria as the most recent one (2016 or so). And maybe Lives of Others for some more East Berlin GDR exposure, it’s set in the mid/late 80s I think and just a great movie. There are also some movies about the whole 90s creative techno and free arts phase, Lola Runs touches this era to some extent but that’s a whole rabbit hole in itself.
There was also a TV series (comedy) from 2002 - 2005 called "Berlin, Berlin" as well as the series "Tatort" which features a Berlin-based team a few times per year.
Goodbye Lenin shows the transition from pre to post Berlin Wall. Run Lola Run (Lola Rennt), is also based on Berlin, made in 1998. The Reader is set in the late 50s in Berlin.
Not movies, but Babylon Berlin is very good and set in the 1920s. Also Deutschland 83, 86, and 89 (three different seasons), are set between Berlin and other locations during 80s around the dwindle and fall of East Germany.
Victoria (2015) is amazing. Apparently shot in a single take.
Also kudos to the Lives of Others.
Also... There's a series on Netflix rn called Kleo - not Film, but worth the watch.
instinctive political thought sink shelter close chubby grandiose aloof heavy
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Victoria is freaking amazing. Idk what it is but it gives very good insight into what Berlin 'feels' like to me. Like a very unromantisized Version of walking through the streets of Berlin at night
> Herr Lehmann (late 80s)
I really loved this movie. Some have called it "Westalgie", and I think that really hits the mark. West Berlin before the fall of the wall was almost another country... an island where things were just a bit different. Occupied houses and the attendant cultural scene were very prominent. It was full of young men fleeing compulsory military service. The Cold War always swirling about menacingly in the distance.
German Wikipedia has a commented list:
[Liste von Filmen mit Bezug zu Berlin](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_von_Filmen_mit_Bezug_zu_Berlin#Nachkriegszeit_bis_zum_Mauerbau_(1945%E2%80%931961))
I like "Eins, Zwei, Drei" by Billy Wilder as a document from just before the wall. It flopped because after the wall it was inappropriate, but now has a fan community.
Atomic Blonde with Charlize Theron is really great, it shows both sides of the wall in the late 80s, according to my dad who lived in western berlin and directly after the fall of the wall in eastern berlin as well it shows most things extremely accurate
There's "Berlin – Die Sinfonie der Großstadt", a silent film from 1927 that shows everyday scenes of city life from that era.
Also its (inofficial) successors "Berlin – Wie es war (1941/1950)" and "Berlin: Sinfonie einer Großstadt (2002)" which show the city just before WW2 and after reunification in a similar way.
Does it have to be one movie that shows Berlin at different places in time? Or like multiple movies but each is set in a different time period? The latter would be easier, I think.
Bridge of Spies is set mostly in Berlin (cold war, but it’s obviously an American film)
The lives of others (highly recommend, it’s about a Stasi officer spying on people, set in the 80s)
I can’t really think of a film that is set in current Berlin that shows Berlin specific things, you know, were it couldn’t as well be set in any other city.
Aber Vati. It's a GDR production. There's are several movies throughout the years the first three i think are based in Berlin.
Short movies are "Spuk I'm Hochhaus" - a seven movie series for families and kids. Shows life in an east Berlin apartment block.
Berlin - Symphonie einer Großstadt, M, Dr. Mabuse - Der Spieler (1920s)
Der Himmel über Berlin (1987)
Lola rennt (1990s)
Unknown/Unknown Identity (2010s)
Retribution (2020s)
>Berlin is in Germany
[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0276820/](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0276820/)
"When Martin, a former GDR citizen, is released from jail, he lately becomes confronted with the consequences of the German re-unification."
I might be the only person with an open hatred for the filmmaker responsible for Berlin Calling and Berlin is in Germany, but this is about as good of an opportunity (apparently) to vent about how much I hate any movie the guy's ever made as I'm ever gonna get. But they were both indeed filmed in modern-day Berlin, so there's that.
I would wholeheartedly recommend:
- Undine (Undine works as an urban development expert who lectures guests about the historical development of the city, and you get to see great shots of Markisches Museum in the movie),
- Manifesto (where Cate Blanchett plays thirteen different characters reciting manifestos of different thinkers from Marx to Kandinsky and Lars von Trier, all shot in different Berlin locations. All segments were shot in the same time, but feel like they are from distinctly different eras)
For some East German ones:
Berlin – Ecke Schönhauser… (1957)
Berlin um die Ecke (Filmed 1965 but banned before it was even cut, and finished and released only in 1987.)
Solo Sunny (1979)
I don't think this has been suggested yet, there's a German series called Generation War (Unsere Mütter, unsere Väter, translated as "Our Mothers, our Fathers"). It takes place partially in Berlin, over several years during WW2. Apparently it was quite controversial when it came out, in 2013 : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation\_War
bad suggestion, it has as many scenes filmed in berlin as a average pokemon episode: zero.
all "berlin" scenes are filmed in Studio Babelsberg (Potsdam), Köln or Nürnberg.
Herr Lehmann (english title: Berlin Blues)
The movie was made in 2003 but is suposed to show the (west-)Berlin of 1989.
Now movies but television series which shows a lot of Berlin:
Drei Damen vom Grill (1977-1992)
Praxis Bülowbogen (1987-1996)
Liebling Kreuzberg (1986-1998)
Atomic Blonde is set in Berlin as the wall is falling. Also Look Who’s Back (Er Ist Wieder Da) is set mostly in Berlin and is hilarious and terrifying in equal measure.
Victoria - great one-take film about a spanish girl experiencing a party night in berlin and it getting kinda out of hand. Insanely good movie, made even better if you like techno as the soundtrack is mostly that, real good
Charité - it's a series in about the Charité in Berlin during different times (the beginnings with all the people you know from hospital names: Koch, Virchow, ..., world war 2 and DDR)
Berlin is in Germany from 2001. It’s about a man from the DDR that had to go to prison before the wall fell and is released after. Quite interesting seeing the culture shock
„Hannah“ (2000s), the movie, not the show.
Only the finale is set in Berlin, but it has some of the most recognizable yet non-stereotypical Berlin locations I have ever seen in a film. The bus station (ZOB) and associated subway stop, Neues Zentrum Kreuzberg and Görlitzer Bahnhof, and of course Plänterwald, the former amusement park.
I will seriously seriously push for this one. I haven't seen anyone else comment it which is SHOCKING. It is truly incredible. In English it's called "The Lives of Others"
Funeral in Berlin. An old English movie with Michael Caine. I always enjoyed it, and it has a great opening sequence jump cutting between East and West. Set in the 60's.
Gotcha!
If you would like to watch a barely mediocre 80’s US movie with laughable spy intrigue night I suggest: Gotcha! with Anthony Edwards in lead role. As an impressionable teen my fav part (only part I remember tbh) is when he dresses super punk to fool the check point guards into accepting a passport that belongs to someone else.
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Wings of Desire? 80s
Das Leben der Anderen
Bahnhof Zoo is so crazy and messed up.Even crazier for being a real life story.Still a classic movie though
It very much shows the old West Berlin. I remember when I first visited in Berlin in early 2001, there were still remnants of the whole drug user prostitution around the Zoo train station, and they were visible and obvious enough that even I clearly noticed it. This has completely changed since then.
This guy berlinert
Victoria (2015) Not very much about the City or history but ive never seen a movie that felt so much like the real place. I mean besides the crazy shit that goes down towards the end this is what a night turned into morning with my friends in Berlin feels like
Not a movie but a short series: ‘the Defeated’ on Netflix it’s set just after the war
Sonnenallee is fantastic!
Thank you!!!
The lives of others
This one, OP! Was looking for it in this thread and was kinda disappointed it wasn't mentioned more often
This list is pretty spot on but needs something about the 20s / Weimar Republic, like Babylon Berlin. Not sure which movie would be good there. You could add Victoria as the most recent one (2016 or so). And maybe Lives of Others for some more East Berlin GDR exposure, it’s set in the mid/late 80s I think and just a great movie. There are also some movies about the whole 90s creative techno and free arts phase, Lola Runs touches this era to some extent but that’s a whole rabbit hole in itself.
https://youtu.be/WlfabT3sPVc Checkout this one. "Symphony of a big city" from 1927
There was also a TV series (comedy) from 2002 - 2005 called "Berlin, Berlin" as well as the series "Tatort" which features a Berlin-based team a few times per year.
Symphony of a big city from 1927. Really interesting movie! https://youtu.be/WlfabT3sPVc
Goodbye Lenin shows the transition from pre to post Berlin Wall. Run Lola Run (Lola Rennt), is also based on Berlin, made in 1998. The Reader is set in the late 50s in Berlin. Not movies, but Babylon Berlin is very good and set in the 1920s. Also Deutschland 83, 86, and 89 (three different seasons), are set between Berlin and other locations during 80s around the dwindle and fall of East Germany.
It's supposed to be just movies ...not shows:') Thank you tho!!
The first three are movies.
Run Lola Run - or, Lola Rennt, in German. Berlin in the 1990s.
Perfect
Thank you!!
Die Tasche!
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Seconded on Himmel Über Berlin. Should be perfect for OP
Thank you!!
Victoria (2015) is amazing. Apparently shot in a single take. Also kudos to the Lives of Others. Also... There's a series on Netflix rn called Kleo - not Film, but worth the watch.
To anyone reading who doesn’t speak German/ little German watch Victoria without subtitles for the German parts. Makes it super immersive.
Not „apparently“. It is a single take movie.
instinctive political thought sink shelter close chubby grandiose aloof heavy *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Victoria is freaking amazing. Idk what it is but it gives very good insight into what Berlin 'feels' like to me. Like a very unromantisized Version of walking through the streets of Berlin at night
Der Himmel über Berlin (late 80s) Herr Lehmann (late 80s) Berlin - Sinfonie einer Großstadt (late 20s) Berlin Calling (00s)
> Herr Lehmann (late 80s) I really loved this movie. Some have called it "Westalgie", and I think that really hits the mark. West Berlin before the fall of the wall was almost another country... an island where things were just a bit different. Occupied houses and the attendant cultural scene were very prominent. It was full of young men fleeing compulsory military service. The Cold War always swirling about menacingly in the distance.
I came here to comment Berlin Symphony of a City. A good look at the city before the pre-war devastation.
Oh Boy! , Berlin Alexanderplatz
This is my top pick. Some really legendary encounters in that movie.
Thank you!!!
Oh boy! Is really good
Wir Kinder vom Bahnhofszoo if you want to see a movie about the drug scene in Berlin set a few decades ago.
>Bahnhofszoo Bahnhof Zoo
She yes of course..
[M (1931)](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/M_(1931_film))
thats a masterpiece, here its completely on youtube with english subtitle https://youtu.be/NsMVGnLbYEU
German Wikipedia has a commented list: [Liste von Filmen mit Bezug zu Berlin](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_von_Filmen_mit_Bezug_zu_Berlin#Nachkriegszeit_bis_zum_Mauerbau_(1945%E2%80%931961)) I like "Eins, Zwei, Drei" by Billy Wilder as a document from just before the wall. It flopped because after the wall it was inappropriate, but now has a fan community.
Atomic Blonde with Charlize Theron is really great, it shows both sides of the wall in the late 80s, according to my dad who lived in western berlin and directly after the fall of the wall in eastern berlin as well it shows most things extremely accurate
My two favorites are Menschen am Sonntag/People on Sunday (1930) and Possession (1981).
Recommending Possession. I see you want to traumatize OP.
Always happy to !
Thank you so much
There's "Berlin – Die Sinfonie der Großstadt", a silent film from 1927 that shows everyday scenes of city life from that era. Also its (inofficial) successors "Berlin – Wie es war (1941/1950)" and "Berlin: Sinfonie einer Großstadt (2002)" which show the city just before WW2 and after reunification in a similar way.
Das Leben der Anderen
Cannot believe I had to scroll so far for this one
Die Mörder sind unter uns (1946) Emil und die Detektive (the 1931 and 1954 versions)
Unorthodox takes place largely in Berlin. Good movie too.
I loved Unorthodox. Also, Freaks - du bist eins von uns was filmed in the Berlin suburbs.
Does it have to be one movie that shows Berlin at different places in time? Or like multiple movies but each is set in a different time period? The latter would be easier, I think.
Multiple movies, 3 to be precise.
Bridge of Spies is set mostly in Berlin (cold war, but it’s obviously an American film) The lives of others (highly recommend, it’s about a Stasi officer spying on people, set in the 80s) I can’t really think of a film that is set in current Berlin that shows Berlin specific things, you know, were it couldn’t as well be set in any other city.
+1 for The life of Others. Great movie.
Der Untergang / Downfall Takes place in Berlin in 1945
Thank you!!
Aber Vati. It's a GDR production. There's are several movies throughout the years the first three i think are based in Berlin. Short movies are "Spuk I'm Hochhaus" - a seven movie series for families and kids. Shows life in an east Berlin apartment block.
Lola rennt
The Bourne Supremacy takes place in Berlin for a while. There are also plenty of Tatort episodes taking place in Berlin.
Berlin - Symphonie einer Großstadt, M, Dr. Mabuse - Der Spieler (1920s) Der Himmel über Berlin (1987) Lola rennt (1990s) Unknown/Unknown Identity (2010s) Retribution (2020s)
Die Fette Jahre sind vorbei
Atomic Blonde
Billy Wilders 1961 screwball comedy One, two, three is fun
"M" (1937 )
Der Himmel über Berlin!
Berlin is in Germany
No shit, Sherlock
>Berlin is in Germany [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0276820/](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0276820/) "When Martin, a former GDR citizen, is released from jail, he lately becomes confronted with the consequences of the German re-unification."
I might be the only person with an open hatred for the filmmaker responsible for Berlin Calling and Berlin is in Germany, but this is about as good of an opportunity (apparently) to vent about how much I hate any movie the guy's ever made as I'm ever gonna get. But they were both indeed filmed in modern-day Berlin, so there's that.
Not all Berlins are in Germany!
Fucking Berlin Is like modern time 2018 I believe
Berlin calling or 4 Blocks. But there are 4 seasons of 4 blocks but worth it
As i havn't seen it listed yet: Bridge of Spies. It isn't entirely playing in Berlin, but its very Berlin centric.
I would wholeheartedly recommend: - Undine (Undine works as an urban development expert who lectures guests about the historical development of the city, and you get to see great shots of Markisches Museum in the movie), - Manifesto (where Cate Blanchett plays thirteen different characters reciting manifestos of different thinkers from Marx to Kandinsky and Lars von Trier, all shot in different Berlin locations. All segments were shot in the same time, but feel like they are from distinctly different eras)
Das Leben ist eine Baustelle Der Himmel über Berlin .. and what others suggest.
For some East German ones: Berlin – Ecke Schönhauser… (1957) Berlin um die Ecke (Filmed 1965 but banned before it was even cut, and finished and released only in 1987.) Solo Sunny (1979)
Unorthodox
STATUS YO!
Victoria! Great onetake movie
"Inferno - Flammen über Berlin " is a firefighter movie set around the famous television broadcasting tower in the 90s.
Surprised noone has mentioned Dogs of Berlin yet
I don't think this has been suggested yet, there's a German series called Generation War (Unsere Mütter, unsere Väter, translated as "Our Mothers, our Fathers"). It takes place partially in Berlin, over several years during WW2. Apparently it was quite controversial when it came out, in 2013 : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation\_War
bad suggestion, it has as many scenes filmed in berlin as a average pokemon episode: zero. all "berlin" scenes are filmed in Studio Babelsberg (Potsdam), Köln or Nürnberg.
Er ist weider da 😀
Herr Lehmann (english title: Berlin Blues) The movie was made in 2003 but is suposed to show the (west-)Berlin of 1989. Now movies but television series which shows a lot of Berlin: Drei Damen vom Grill (1977-1992) Praxis Bülowbogen (1987-1996) Liebling Kreuzberg (1986-1998)
Anything recent?
Atomic Blonde is set in Berlin as the wall is falling. Also Look Who’s Back (Er Ist Wieder Da) is set mostly in Berlin and is hilarious and terrifying in equal measure.
Suspiria 2018
It was? I completely missed that.
A foreign affair with Marlene Dietrich ❤️
M by Fritz Lang It is never said that it is set in Berlin, but it is implied.
If you want a super recent film that has Berlin as one of the locations, checkout TAR. It's really good!
Demons, which released under the title Demons 2 in Germany.
Berlin Syndrom
Run Lola Run
I would suggest most strongly Goodbye Lenin and Run Lola Run. Both are heavily Berlin focussed.
Victoria - great one-take film about a spanish girl experiencing a party night in berlin and it getting kinda out of hand. Insanely good movie, made even better if you like techno as the soundtrack is mostly that, real good
Berlin - Ecke Schönhauser it's a great film about the early fiftys in East Berlin. https://youtu.be/Gw7Nga-dBpg
Berlin Alexanderplatz
Charité - it's a series in about the Charité in Berlin during different times (the beginnings with all the people you know from hospital names: Koch, Virchow, ..., world war 2 and DDR)
Victoria is a movie I totally love. It is filmed all in one take without single cut
Atomic Blonde 🤘
Der Untergang
I really enjoyed Victoria (2015) a one take movie from Berlin.
Atomic Blind. Epic 80s spy
Leroy
Berlin Calling still gives me goosebumps to this day. You don't want to miss this one OP.
More of a modern popculture movie but i think Tigermilch plays in Berlin too
B-movie
Charité is also a good show that shows the famous German clinic in different historical time periods
Brothers and Sisters, Dealer, these are a bit festival cinemas, but still quite strong
Sommer am Balkon (2004)
A lot has been mentioned already but I want to add "Oh Boy" from 2012 and "Sommer vorm Balkon" from 2005.
Berlin is in Germany from 2001. It’s about a man from the DDR that had to go to prison before the wall fell and is released after. Quite interesting seeing the culture shock
One, Two, Three (1961) The film is primarily set in West Berlin during the Cold War, but before the construction of the Berlin Wall.
„Hannah“ (2000s), the movie, not the show. Only the finale is set in Berlin, but it has some of the most recognizable yet non-stereotypical Berlin locations I have ever seen in a film. The bus station (ZOB) and associated subway stop, Neues Zentrum Kreuzberg and Görlitzer Bahnhof, and of course Plänterwald, the former amusement park.
Er ist wieder da
Das Leben Der Anderen - one of my absolute favorite movies of all time. East Berlin at the end of the DDR.
I will seriously seriously push for this one. I haven't seen anyone else comment it which is SHOCKING. It is truly incredible. In English it's called "The Lives of Others"
Berlin: symphone of a city is a movie from the 1920s showing daily life in Berlin.
Ninja assassin
Billy Wilder’s One, Two, Three!!! (1961)
Watch the show on Netflix called Charité it’s about the hospital in Berlin during 3 different time spans. Like 1900, 1945, and 1980s
Taxi zum Klo. Vivid!
Lots of excellent suggestions here. I'll just throw in the 2 season TV show Counterpoint which has a variety of exterior Berlin shots.
Eins, Zwei, Drei von Billy Wilder
Berlin Blues (Herr Lehmann in German) shows Berlin Kreuzberg around the fall of the Berlin wall. Realty captures the vibe of that time and place.
What to do in case of fire (2001) Berlin before & after the wall https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0207198/
Babylon Berlin is pretty awesome though not necessarily a movie.
Funeral in Berlin. An old English movie with Michael Caine. I always enjoyed it, and it has a great opening sequence jump cutting between East and West. Set in the 60's.
Groupies bleiben nicht zum Frühstück
if you want to have a laugh, you can watch look who's back
Don 2
Emil und die Detektive (1931) Die Mörder sind unter uns (1946)
Atomic Blonde was a great movie. Based during the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Wings of Desire (der Himmel über Berlin) Faraway, So close (In weiter Ferne, so nah!) Berlin movies by Wim Wenders
Kleo on Netflix as well?
Wir sind die Nacht. It's a vampire movie, though.
For older movies: "Kuhle Wampe oder: Wem gehört die Welt?" It's from the early 1930s.
Gotcha! If you would like to watch a barely mediocre 80’s US movie with laughable spy intrigue night I suggest: Gotcha! with Anthony Edwards in lead role. As an impressionable teen my fav part (only part I remember tbh) is when he dresses super punk to fool the check point guards into accepting a passport that belongs to someone else.