Berlin Alexanderplatz

[Qurbani]'s "Berlin Alexanderplatz" is a nice place to visit but you might not want to live there for three hours.

A heavy-handed re-imagining.

The episodic, sometimes almost soap-operatic nature of Qurbani's storytelling sacrifices a great deal of thematic depth for a great deal of eventing instead.

A different interpretation that attacks the same economic system... [Full review in Spanish]

The epic crime tale reduced to a mere three hours leaves a lot to be desired.

Berlin Alexanderplatz crackles because Welket Bungué is magnetic in the central role.

Instead of building to any sort of climax to justify its three-hour runtime, Berlin Alexanderplatz spins out into infinity, confusing circuity for world-building.

The basic story remains a long, cruel downward slide of degradations and injustices. But Qurbani lends it considerable style and energy, his updated cautionary fable further made palatable by lead Bungue's charisma...

The new Berlin Alexanderplatz is worth seeing and at times is moving. The director clearly wants to encourage social debate. But the film squanders opportunities and fails to place its finger on the wound.

Beautiful and atmospheric but essentially empty and pointless, Berlin Alexanderplatz hits you with the bluntness of a sledgehammer.