There’s a tinge of irony in the fact that one of the movies that gave people in Germany a little joy amidst the rubble of World War II has a name that now reminds us of darker times. 1-2-3 Corona might be the most happy-go-lucky film that DEFA ever made. The story takes place in …
Category: Love
What Should I Watch?
New to East German films? Here are a few from DEFA with English subtitles that are well worth seeing. All of these films are currently available on the Kanopy streaming service. I’m often asked for recommendations on East German movies that people should watch. There’s no one answer to this. I once showed my personal …
Do You Know Urban?
While recuperating in the hospital Hoffi (Berndt Renné) meets Urban (Manfred Karge). Urban has worked as an engineer on projects all over the world, and Hoffi sees him as a source of meaningful employment. Hoffi just spent 1½ years in prison on an assault charge, and nobody wants to hire an ex-con. Hoffi hopes to …
Seitensprung
While I normally use the English language title for my heading, I’ve decided to go with the German title on this one. There are a number of ways to translate this title into English. They include: “escapade,” “affair,” “a bit on the side,” “adultery,” and “infidelity.” Escapade is the title used by IMDB and some …
A Girl of 16½
A popular wall poster for the young people who opposed the Vietnam War read: “War is unhealthy for children and other living things.” After World War II, Germany saw the full effect of this. German fathers were either killed or imprisoned, and the mothers waiting at home fell prey to the Allied bombs. Parents would …
Liane
At the start of Liane, we see the films namesake applying for a part in a film being shot at the electrical company where she works. Immediately, we see that she’s the type of person who speaks candidly, regardless of the situation. Liane works as a Springer—a job designation that’s only one step above being …
5+1 Films That Look Back at the GDR
My next article on the East Germany Cinema Blog is going to take at least another week of work, so, in the meantime, here’s a listicle to keep things moving. These are five (plus one bonus film) of the best post-Wende films on the subject of life in East Germany that I have seen. I’ve …
Those East German Barge Films
While sailing films are about striking out into the unknown and houseboat films are about living somewhere that just happens to be on the water, barge films fall somewhere in between. They are often aquatic road movies, with the characters slowly traveling from place to place, entering the lives of people then departing. Barge films …
Sleeping Beauty
The story of Sleeping Beauty (Dornröschen) is old enough that its origins are a point of debate. The Grimm Brothers felt the story had enough Germanic elements to identify it as German in origin. The French, quite rightly, would point out that the story was already well-known in France as it appeared in Charles Perrault’s …
Journey into the Nuptial Bed
East Germany had a difficult relationship with musicals. As with Western audiences, the East German public enjoyed musicals and paid to go see them. The box office was good for nearly all the musicals DEFA made, but the art form is so inherently frivolous that it drove the more stodgy politicians crazy. Making fairytale films …
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