This ain`t California - DVD

Film: Denis is dead. Although many of his childhood friends had long since lost touch with him, this news comes as a deep shock. That he was a soldier, few knew. Given how they had experienced the boy once nicknamed Panik, this career is a tangible and now also very sad surprise. Together, you meet in a place that holds many memories of your shared youth. One remembers a time when the skater movement took hold of the GDR, when rollerboarding was first seen as an attack on the GDR's customs and values, another attack from the West, before it was turned into a patriotic virtue as a part of sportsmanship. These are memories of the 80s, of a time of upheaval and of a very special friendship lost after freedom was won...

This ain`t California is in itself a very personal story, that of Denis and his friends. Many photos, conversations and Super 8 footage trace Denis` journey from a promising athlete talent to a revolting star of the skater scene in the East. But even if the story, which is additionally enriched by a coherent 80s soundtrack and some animated sequences, only seems like a small window on life in the former GDR, on closer inspection it is a much bigger story that succeeds in portraying an entire generation by looking at a subculture. And not only that: director Marten Persiel skilfully spans the arc between then and now, blurring the boundaries between West and East and thus creating something that in many moments skilfully defies the rules of standard documentaries.

Furthermore, the film is simply extremely entertaining. Even if you've never been on a rollerboard yourself and the whole scene is completely foreign to you, it's just fun to dive into this very special culture at this very special time. It is exciting to listen to the memories of Denis, but also of the youth in the GDR itself and that these are not always just nice memories, but often evade the typical Ostalgie clichés, increases the entertainment value of this film many times over.

This ain`t California thus works on several levels and can therefore not only lovers of good documentaries, extraordinary portraits and connoisseurs of the skater scene warmly recommended. A stylistically as well as in terms of content tremendously versatile film, which was not without reason already awarded at various festivals and could inspire. Worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: The picture quality varies depending on the available source material. The archival and Super 8 footage obviously doesn't have the same quality as the actual digitally recorded interviews, but it adds significantly to the atmosphere of the film. Therefore, the picture overall can be described as absolutely coherent and of good quality. The sound lets the interviews sound well understandable from the speakers and presents the appropriate soundtrack very powerfully mixed. Good!

Extras: In addition to a slideshow and a picture gallery, the DVD has just under 10 minutes of making of material to offer. Not really much, but well worth watching!

Conclusion: This ain`t California is not a typical Eastalgia documentary and also not a film that appeals only to the skater scene. It is a stylistically as well as in terms of content very versatile documentary that surprises, moves and simply quite fun. Even if the bonus material is not exactly extensive, applies to this DVD release in the end but: absolutely recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp