It's the time to do things you are afraid to do, when you are younger, and too smart to do, when you are older. "So war das S. O.36" is about such a time. It's the early 1980s, the DIY-ethos of the stagnant Punk movement teamed up with an arrogant art attitude. Young musicians (kind of) used the stage of the SO23 (called Esso) in West Berlin to make lots of noise, scream, bellow, complain about stuff, repeat some words over and over again. So much anger & fury! They are having a ball. What a great time!
The Esso is still a legendary venue. It's Berlin's CBGB. Just as the "Dschungel" (Jungle) is Berlin's Studio 54, only without the excitement, the glamour, the sex and the famous people. Nonetheless, this "Jungle" is legendary: David Bowie even mentioned it in his 2013 single "Where Are We Now?". He also attended the opening of the original S. O.36, in 1978. At that time it was run by the artist Martin Kippenberger, who sold it a year later, while he was still 25 years old. Some people are still looking for the legendary "Berlin Wall", immortalised in Bowie's "Heroes". It didn't get much older than 25. What becomes a legend most?
"So war das S. O.36" was released only 5 months after the Esso was closed by the building authorities in March 1983. It consists mainly of live footage capturing the performances of (very) young, experimenting, non-traditional rock musicians from West Berlin. People were not taking a lot of pictures in those days. Moving pictures, with sound? That was expensive and complicated. These are extremely rare documents, this is as good as it gets. Having said that: Picture and sound quality are poor. It was filmed with Super 8 cameras and the acoustic conditions of the Esso were legendary bad. Kindly enough the directors came up with quite a few humorous ideas to make their product more digestible. In a truly youthful manner they present their subject like something from a far away, legendary past. It must have been sheer luck that they've found some surviving contemporary witnesses. Too bad that most of their memories aren't very flattering. Terrible: The place, the bands, the whole Esso experience. This movie. Yup, sounds about right. Form and content match. Viewed from this perspective, "So war das S. O.36" is actually a perfect movie.
Most of the bands and performers featured here disappeared. Leaving nothing at all: Onkel Polle, Die 4 unsichtbaren 5, Die Toten Piloten, Hoch Tief, Rubberbeats, Tanzmusik, VEB Plexiglas.- With cassettes and/or one record: Die Gelbs, Die Ich's, Lorenz Lorenz, P1/E, Nina Schulz, System, Rucki Zucki Stimmungskapelle.- With 2 or 3 LPs: Beton Combo, Carambolage, TV War.- Die Tödliche Doris, Malaria! And Einstürzende Neubauten had more or less successful art music careers.- Two members of Soilent Grün became the core of the enormously profitable teenybopper "punk" band "Die Ärzte".
"So war das S. O.36" is a very inspirational movie. All the performers tapped into the zeitgeist, they dared, they created vivid and lasting memories - at least for themselves. If these guys with their silly stuff could do it, who can't? What becomes a legend most? On a personal level everything achieved in the decade from 16 to 25.
