FUCKING CITY
dir. Lothar Lambert, 1982.
Germany. 88 min.
In German with English subtitles.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6 – 10PM
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 20 – 7:30PM
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28 – 10PM
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 30 – 7:30PM
Lothar Lambert’s FUCKING CITY follows four desperate characters on their quest for emotional and sexual fulfillment in the urban jungle of West Berlin. Married couple Rüdiger and Helga dive headfirst into the world of sexual liberation, racially fetishizing the local migrant communities in an attempt to save their failing relationship. In a meta-commentary on Lambert’s own practice, Rüdiger sublimates his impotency through an increasing obsession with exploitative, amateur filmmaking. Meanwhile, Helga’s gay coworker Kurt (Lothar Lambert) jumps from man to man, struggling to sustain a lasting bond with any of them, while his sister, Klara, visits from the provinces for her first bittersweet taste of city life. At once a capsule of a uniquely specific milieu and a timeless exploration of the inadequacies that plague the petty bourgeoise, FUCKING CITY represents a defining work of German underground cinema and one of Lambert’s most fully realized visions.
As director, screenwriter, and frequent cameraman, editor, producer, and distributor of over forty films since 1971, Lambert has cultivated an expansive, wholly independent, and unabashedly queer body of work that is all his own, and yet his films remain largely unseen outside of Germany. Fresh from receiving the 2024 Berlinale’s Special Teddy– awarded for outstanding achievement and long-term service to queer cinema, and whose previous winners include Werner Schroeter, Ulrike Ottinger, Udo Kier, and Rosa von Praunheim – the DIY renegade seems destined for more widespread recognition. This September, Spectacle is thrilled play a role in Lambert’s resurgence as we unveil this recent restoration of FUCKING CITY for the first time in North America.