Berlin Alexanderplatz

The innovative novel by Alfred Döblin (1878–1957) «Berlin Alexanderplatz» had enormous success in Germany immediately after its publication in 1929. And indeed, Franz Biberkopf, whose story the author tells, is by no means the kind of character who is readily... chosen as a protagonist. A simple hired worker, a lover of women, just out of prison with a vague desire to live honestly and without problems. And now he is free again, in Berlin. Around him is some incomprehensible turmoil: communists, fascists, gangsters, Jews, police… It is hard to find work. Our hero observes everything, adjusts himself, and searches anew for his place in the sun. Among other things, he makes the acquaintance of a certain Reinhold and participates in a deal with a fruit trader — and Franz's fate takes another sharp turn... The novel, cinematic in its essence, has been adapted for film multiple times. The television epic by director Rainer Werner Fassbinder received worldwide recognition (1980).