Berlin Alexanderplatz poster

Berlin Alexanderplatz

★ 8.3 5K votes 1980–1980 1 season · 14 episodes Ended Das Erste
BleakGrim and heavy, with little easy relief. These shows sit with suffering instead of softening it.This show: 9/10Emotionally heavyDemands real emotional stamina from the viewer.This show: 9/10Character studyInterior life matters more than plot.This show: 9/10Working classOrdinary people, ordinary money, real stakes.This show: 8/10Gut punchWilling to devastate you, and remembered for it.This show: 8/10MelancholicA wistful sadness woven through the story, even in its lighter moments.This show: 8/10Stylized directionBold, signature formal choices.This show: 8/10Criminal underworldOrganized crime, gangs and the criminal life seen from the inside.This show: 8/10
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Starring
Günter LamprechtClaus HolmHanna SchygullaFranz BuchrieserBrigitte MiraRoger Fritz
Starring
Günter LamprechtClaus HolmHanna SchygullaFranz BuchrieserBrigitte MiraRoger Fritz
Ratings per Episode
246810
Votes per Episode
0125250375500

Berlin Alexanderplatz Episode Ratings Heatmap

AvgE1E2E3E4E5E6E7E8E9E10E11E12E13E14
S17.97.78.07.97.77.97.97.97.87.77.98.18.18.38.3

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About

"A doomed man's slow-motion moral collapse"

Rainer Werner Fassbinder's sprawling 1980 miniseries follows Franz Biberkopf, freshly released from prison in 1920s Berlin, as he tries to stay honest and keeps failing anyway. It's a slow, hazy, claustrophobic descent, shot in warm amber light with long, patient takes and a narrator who comments like a novelist looking over your shoulder. This is not fast entertainment; it's a mood you sink into, driven by Günter Lamprecht's lumbering, wounded performance and Barbara Sukowa's heartbreaking turn as Mieze. Bleak, hypnotic, and unforgettable if you let it work on you.

Watch it for

the hypnotic slow-burn performances and Fassbinder's suffocating, amber-lit vision of Weimar Berlin.

Maybe skip if

you need brisk pacing, since this unfolds in long, deliberately repetitive takes over many hours.

Written by our AI editor to help you decide, spoiler-free by design.

All Seasons

▼
Limited Series1980
7.95K1414h 58m
In late 1920s Berlin, Franz Biberkopf is released from prison and vows to go straight. However, he soon finds himself embroiled in the city’s criminal underworld.
EpTitleRatingYoursVotesRuntime
▶1Die Strafe beginnt7.7
47982 min
▶2Wie soll man leben, wenn man nicht sterben will8.0
40059 min
▶3Ein Hammer auf den Kopf kann die Seele verletzen7.9
36659 min
▶4Eine Handvoll Menschen in der Tiefe der Stille7.7
35459 min
▶5Ein Schnitter mit der Gewalt vom lieben Gott7.9
33259 min
▶6Eine Liebe, das kostet immer viel7.9
31758 min
▶7Merke - Einen Schwur kann man amputieren7.9
31458 min
▶8Die Sonne wärmt die Haut, die sie manchmal verbrennt7.8
30258 min
▶9Von den Ewigkeiten zwischen den Vielen und den Wenigen7.7
30258 min
▶10Einsamkeit reißt auch in Mauern Risse des Irrsinns7.9
30859 min
▶11Wissen ist Macht und Morgenstund hat Gold im Mund8.1
30659 min
▶12Die Schlange in der Seele der Schlange8.1
30759 min
▶13Das Äußere und das Innere und das Geheimnis der Angst vor dem Geheimnis8.3
30059 min
▶14Fassbinder, Berlin Alexanderplatz, 14 - the Death of A Child and The Birth of A Worthwhile Human Being8.3
345112 min

Full Cast & Crew

Cast

Günter Lamprecht Franz Biberkopf
Claus Holm Wirt, Gastwirt Max
Hanna Schygulla Eva
Franz Buchrieser Gottfried Meck
Brigitte Mira Frau Bast, Wirtin Bast
Roger Fritz Herbert, Herbert Virchow
Gottfried John Reinhold Hoffmann
Barbara Sukowa Mieze
Günther Kaufmann Theo
Ivan Desny Pums, Herr Pums

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