Berlin Alexanderplatz (2020)

If you always wanted to delve into the definitive work of literature created during the heyday of the Weimar Republic but were terrified of Rainer Werner Fassbinder's 15 hour 1980 adaptation, then the three hour adaptation of Berlin Alexanderplatz (2020) might be right up your alley! Afghan/German director Burhan Qurbani makes the decision to move the action to the present day and recontextualizes the entire story as a result. Francis (Welket Bungué) is an illegal immigrant from Guinea-Bissau who moves into the titular neighborhood where he hopes to live a life free from any criminal involvement or anything might draw undue attention to himself. Upon arriving at a tenement where he's going to be living, he meets and has sex with Elli (Lena Schmidtke), who turns up murdered later that same night. Following his unwitting participation in the cover-up of her murder, Francis must now integrate himself into the very criminal underworld he sought to avoid at all costs, being drawn further and further into a nightmare from which there is seemingly no escape. The further Francis travels down the proverbial criminal rabbit hole, the more he finds that not only is the way out not through, but that there is no way out for anyone. All of the nudity in this three hour film is confined to the first hour, with Lena Schmidtke baring her breasts in bed 28 minutes in and the lovely Annabelle Mandeng also flashing her fun bags 29 minutes later, also in bed with our main character! Those two topless scenes alone are enough to turn you into Berlin Alexander-splatz!