The Sailors’ 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…… Read more “The Sailors’ Song”
Category: Kurt Maetzig
Don’t Forget My Little Traudel
Don’t Forget My Little Traudel (Vergesst mir meine Traudel nicht1) is the story of Gertraud (“Traudel”) Gerber, A 17-year-old whose mother died in the Ravensbrück concentration camp…… Read more “Don’t Forget My Little Traudel”
Girls in Gingham
In the years after World War II, there was a lot of soul-searching in East German films. At first, this took the form of the Rubble Films,…… Read more “Girls in Gingham”
The Story of a Young Couple
If I were going to show somebody their first East German film, it would not be this one. One common misconception among Americans—and all westerners, for that…… Read more “The Story of a Young Couple”
The Blum Affair
The Blum Affair is based on a famous court case that took place in Germany during the Weimar Republic years. After the Second World War, people realized…… Read more “The Blum Affair”
The 11th Plenum
NOTE: Readers of this blog may have noticed how often the term “11th Plenum” crops up in these film reviews. Although I define the term in the…… Read more “The 11th Plenum”
Castles and Cottages
Castles and Cottages (Schlösser und Katen) is three-and-a-half hour, two-part film that covers the events in a small Mecklenburg village from the end of WWII to the…… Read more “Castles and Cottages”
The Ernst Thälmann Films
Although he died five years before the country was created, Ernst Thälmann was East Germany’s greatest hero. He was to the GDR what George Washington is to…… Read more “The Ernst Thälmann Films”
Marriage in the Shadows
Like Stars and Jakob the Liar, Marriage in the Shadows (Ehe im Schatten) deals with the subject of anti-Semitism in Nazi Germany. Unlike those films, however, this…… Read more “Marriage in the Shadows”
Stars
For its first 25 years, two things kept the rest of the world from learning that East Germany was producing some of the best films in Europe.…… Read more “Stars”
