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Esto no es Berlín

Play trailer Poster for Esto no es Berlín Released Aug 23, 2019 1h 55m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
82% Tomatometer 50 Reviews 63% Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
In 1986 Mexico City, a 17-year-old boy doesn't fit in anywhere, not in his family nor with the friends he has chosen in school. But everything changes when he is invited to a mythical nightclub, where he discovers the underground nightlife scene.
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Esto no es Berlín

Esto no es Berlín

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Critics Consensus

This Is Not Berlin uses one young man's sexual and cultural awakening as the fuel for a personal story with widely resonant themes.

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Critics Reviews

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Ty Burr Boston Globe The details are fresh and the lead actor holds the screen even as his character withholds himself, defining who he will be in his own time and on his own terms. Rated: 2.5/4 Aug 29, 2019 Full Review Claudia Puig FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles) Both edgy and sensitive... It doesn't go in the directions that you necessarily expect. Aug 26, 2019 Full Review Richard Brody The New Yorker Family tragedy, legal matters, and the World Cup all zip through the drama, which has a miniseries' worth of incidents that get dispatched in quick, merely informational scenes filmed with little style or imagination. Aug 26, 2019 Full Review Sergio Huidobro EscribiendoCine Despite its stumbling narrative and sometimes shallow characters, Esto no es Berlín stands out for its ability to transport us to a specific time and place. [Full review in Spanish] Rated: 6/10 Aug 19, 2024 Full Review Manuel Betancourt Out Magazine This is not Berlin, much like its title suggests, is a potent love letter to a Mexico at a crossroads. Sep 4, 2020 Full Review Dan Scully Cinema76 [An] edgy, challenging coming of age story. Mar 17, 2020 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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brent m Substance over style may be enough for some moviegoers, but many savvy cinephiles require more, and that's certainly the case with this thrown-together collection of images and incidents that have little meaningful cohesion to bind them. Set in Mexico City in 1986, this slow-moving slog tells the stories of three high school students who become involved with an assortment of metrosexual, drug-addicted sociopolitical performance artists and musicians who endlessly go clubbing to party at fringe and edgy night spots. However, in several cases, it's difficult to fathom the characters' interest (and subsequent radical changes in behavior) in this scene given how divergent they are from their backgrounds, not to mention the events that spring forth from these inexplicable shifts. What's more, the film attempts to provide a temporal context by including references to events of the time, though without elaboration of and explanation for their inclusion in the first place. Despite the picture's relative success at capturing the look and feel of the era, some of it is painfully excessive, most notably the performance art, which is pretentious even by 1980s standards. Director Hari Sama's half-baked effort leaves much to be desired, no matter how stylish it may appear on screen or how allegedly hip it may think it is. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review слободан е Deals with interesting topics of Mexico City underground scene and emancipation of its subcultures. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member A fast paced portrait of the underground culture in Mexico. Absorbent and wonderful. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review Audience Member ¨Breaking the Law by Judas Priest starts playing in the background.¨ Although that the movie has a slight problem of rhythm, This is not Berlin is part of that select group of Mexican cinema that proposes fresh things. Maybe not as innovative, but new after all. With good performances, great technical aspects and a soundtrack worthy of a pretty cool oldie playlist, Hari Sama gives us a pretty beautiful movie that despite being located in the Mexico of the 80's, a big part of the audience will see themselves reflected int the screen in some way or another. Regardless of which generation you belong to. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/15/23 Full Review Audience Member Película autobiográfica de su director Hari (Carlos) Sama que narra como fue su adolescencia en los 80s y su acercamiento al mundo rebelde del punk, las drogas y la protesta. Nada muy interesante pero bien hecha y con un muy buen protagónico de Xabiani Ponce de León. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/24/23 Full Review Audience Member It's amazing what Sama did in this film. The esthetic, the soundtrack, the cast, the story, all things that mix perfectly to recreate the México 80's. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/17/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Esto no es Berlín

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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis In 1986 Mexico City, a 17-year-old boy doesn't fit in anywhere, not in his family nor with the friends he has chosen in school. But everything changes when he is invited to a mythical nightclub, where he discovers the underground nightlife scene.
Director
Hari Sama
Screenwriter
Rodrigo Ordoñez, Hari Sama, Max Zunino
Distributor
Samuel Goldwyn Films
Production Co
Catatonia Films
Genre
Drama
Original Language
Spanish
Release Date (Theaters)
Aug 23, 2019, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Oct 5, 2019
Runtime
1h 55m
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