One of the goals of DEFA films, stated at the very start of the production company, was to present stories from as objective a viewpoint as possible. When Kurt Maetzig made The Council of the Gods, his intention was to avoid both the romanticism of Hollywood and the socialist realism of Soviet films. He wanted …
Month: April 2017
The Sailor’s Song
The Sailor's Song (Das Lied der Matrosen) is a dramatic retelling of the Kiel Mutiny, a revolt by sailors in 1918. The event helped end World War I, virtually ended the reign of Wilhelm II, and—at least in this DEFA account of the story—sowed the seeds for the establishment of the German Communist Party (KPD). …
East German Cinema Blog 