DIE WELT, Dienstag 22. Oktober 2002

Berlin Metamorphoses

An American documentary analyses the city of Berlin. And tries to understand the Germans.

By Anna Schwan

    Berlin is everywhere. Pictures of the city - the Reichstag, The Wall, Alexanderplatz - are scattered around the editing room against a backdrop of flipcharts and monitors. The monitors show a continuous stream of people, buildings, streets and squares in Berlin. In big letters above the monitors is the phrase, "Don't work against time. Work with it."

    Robert E. Frye has spent the last half year in this editing room. The producer/director has meticulously gathered over 100 hours of film material and consolidated this into a 90 minute documentary. Interwoven with images of Berlin's present, past and future, are testimonies from 95 interviews. The final product is a uniquely deep and sensitive portrayal of Berlin that lets the city, in all its variety, speak for itself.