Skip to content
East German Cinema Blog

East German Cinema Blog

A Blog About the Films of East Germany

Category: Kurt Maetzig

The Sailors’ Song

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”

April 6, 2017December 9, 2017 by Jim Morton

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”

August 22, 2015February 11, 2017 by Jim Morton

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”

October 22, 2014February 11, 2017 by Jim Morton

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”

February 16, 2014February 18, 2017 by Jim Morton

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”

January 26, 2014February 18, 2017 by Jim Morton

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”

August 24, 2013July 31, 2016 by Jim Morton

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”

April 28, 2013February 18, 2017 by Jim Morton

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”

June 17, 2012 by Jim Morton

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”

February 17, 2012February 27, 2012 by Jim Morton

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”

April 4, 2011February 17, 2017 by Jim Morton

Posts navigation

Older posts
  • Glossary
Blog at WordPress.com.
Cancel