Berlin, Divided Heaven: From the Ice Age to the Thaw
Touring Film Series

International Youth & Rebel Films

Berlin - Schönhauser Corner, the GDR's most popular response to the "International Rebel and Youth Film," introduces audiences to rebels with a cause. This classic 1950's teen flick is a perceptive social portrait of a city in which political and economic division affects an entire population. In this and other 'Berlin Films' such as Berlin Around the Corner, A Berlin Romance and Alarm at the Circus, filmmakers Gerhard Klein and Wolfgang Kohlhaase established DEFA's most enduring and controversial sub-genre. Potential pairings with Berlin - Schönhauser Corner span the world from Hollywood's Blackboard Jungle and The Wild One to Russia's The Cranes Are Flying, Poland's Ashes and Diamonds or Kanal, and Hungary's Time Stands Still.

Berlin Around the Corner (Berlin um die Ecke)
1965 (1990), East Germany (DEFA), b/w, 82 min.
Dir.: Gerhard Klein.

16mm, VHS-NTSC rental available at the DEFA Film Library

After Gerhard Klein and Wolfgang Kohlhaase enjoyed such huge successes with their “Berlin Trilogy:” Alarm at the Circus (Alarm im Zirkus), A Berlin Romance (Eine Berliner Romanze), and Berlin - Schönhauser Corner (Berlin - Ecke Schönhauser); they embarked on bringing a new idea to life, which was to be called Berlin: Chapter IV. This time they depicted young people in the divided metropolis of Berlin - their feelings about life, their moral attitudes, their work, and their loves.

The Wall was by now a stark reality. Kohlhaase says, “We thought it had to be possible from that time on to talk all the more earnestly and openly about our own contradictions.” The author broadened his range of characters considerably, giving equal importance to young and old. There is a shocking scene in which a young worker tried to beat up an old functionary in a dark corridor. The inner world of the protagonists was believable, and the basic tone was of an almost excruciating honesty. There was passion among the old men, recalcitrance among the young men, and a chasm between the generations.

Kohlhaase successfully translated these awesome problems into an exciting story, avoiding didactic aspects and honing the scenes, not missing the Berlin dialect. It was an art of story telling that seemed so easy and effortless, offering a rare and real chance to captivate viewers of all ages with a working-class theme.

Born in ‘45 (Jahrgang 45)
1965/66 (1990), East Germany (DEFA), color, 94 min. English subtitles
Dir.: Jürgen Böttcher.

35mm available for rental
VHS, DVD NTSC format, available for purchase from the DEFA Film Library

The only feature film by the painter and documentarist Jürgen Böttcher. Inspired by the Italian neo-realists, he developed a sensitive style characterized by accurate social observations and poetic verse.

Born in ‘45 tells the story of Al and Li, a young married couple living in the Prenzlauer Berg district of Berlin. They have only been married for a couple of months but they decide to divorce. Alfred in particular, the motorcycle enthusiast, really pushes for the separation from his wife. He fears losing his independence and freedom to experiment with life. Al takes a couple days off to clear his head, riding through Berlin, meeting friends and strangers. The fact that he ultimately returns to Lisa is possibly a good omen, but the ending remains open.

Born in ‘45 was caught in a wave of politically motivated film bans in the summer of 1966 and was not allowed to be shown. The film was described by an official as “indifferent and insignificant.” Böttcher chose settings that were “gloomy, unfriendly, dirty and neglected. Characters and surroundings were created to reflect more a capitalist view of life as opposed to a socialist view of life.” It wasn’t until the Spring of 1990, when the film was shown in cinemas, that the true beauties of the film were discovered: its rhythm, its lacunae, its disposition. Jürgen Böttcher “grasped the life of 20-year-olds in Prenzlauer Berg with social and regional exactness and was able to translate it into an elementary world language.” (Erika Richter)

The Rabbit Is Me (Das Kaninchen bin ich)
1965 (1989), East Germany (DEFA), b/w, 109 min.
Dir.: Kurt Maetzig.

35mm, 16mm rental available from the DEFA Film Library
VHS, DVD NTSC format, available for purchase

For 24 years it was a banned film. Only after the fall of the Wall was it presented in cinemas. Director Kurt Maetzig drew ideas from a banned novel by Manfred Bieler: a 19 year old Berliner named Maria Morzeck is denied university admission because her brother is serving time for political slander. The young woman falls in love with a judge, but later finds out that he is the judge who passed the harsh sentence on her brother. When the GDR justice system undergoes a slight reform, the judge quickly reverses his earlier claims. Maria sees through his opportunism and leaves him.

DEFA made this film in 1964/65 to encourage discussion of democratization of East German society. Soon after, the political leadership of the GDR labeled The Rabbit Is Me an attack on the state, anti-socialist, pessimistic and revisionist. After the Party banned the film, director Maetzig wrote a biting self-criticism which was published in Neues Deutschland, the largest daily newspaper in the country. Shocked by these attacks, DEFA ceased production of a dozen other critical films in progress, almost the entire year’s productions. The films remained taboo, and no one was allowed to see them until the end of the 1980’s.

After its initial presentation in 1989/90, critics hailed The Rabbit Is Me as one of the most important and courageous works ever filmed by DEFA.

Just Don’t Think I’ll Cry (Denk bloß nicht ich heule)
1964/65 (1990), East Germany (DEFA), b/w, 90 min.
Dir.: Frank Vogel.

VHS, NTSC format, available for purchase from DEFA Film Library

In September 1963, the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED), the ruling party of the GDR, published a “Youth Communiqué.” This document mandated that young people should no longer be passive recipients of education, but should be cultivated as independently thinking and acting individuals. And thus, the concept “Leaders of Tomorrow” emerged.

At the same time, DEFA introduced a series of feature films which portrayed the everyday lives of young people. This group of films included Just Don’t Think I’ll Cry, the story of an 18 year old high school senior’s conflict with society. Despite his being thrown out of school for writing a provocative essay, he continues to oppose the lethargy and hypocrisy he sees around him. He wants to remain true to himself no matter what the cost.

In March 1965 a test screening of Just Don’t Think I’ll Cry was held. The viewers, mostly state officials, condemned the film as “rubbish.” Undermined and insecure, DEFA began by re-cutting the film. But by December 1965, the fate of the film was decided: The Central Committee labeled Just Don’t Think I’ll Cry as well as Kurt Maetzig’s The Rabbit Is Me anti-socialist and banned them. In all, eleven films were banned in the following month - almost the entire year’s production. Finally, these films reached the public in January 1990 after the fall of the Wall, when they were belatedly acclaimed as masterpieces of critical realism.

Carla (Karla)
1965/66 (1990), East Germany (DEFA), b/w, 128 min.
Dir.: Herrmann Zschoche.

VHS, NTSC format, available for purchase from defaorder@german.umass.edu

Author Ulrich Plenzdorf and director Herrmann Zschoche tell the story of a young teacher who goes against the routine opportunism of her hypocritical and small-minded surroundings. Just starting her teaching career, she discovers her students hide their true thoughts and feelings and only say what they are expected to say. The young teacher tries to encourage open discussions about taboo topics, attempting to break down the walls of suspicion and cynicism. Her superiors view her actions with unease and eventually step in to discipline Carla, who is beginning to lose faith in her cause.

The influential East German actress Jutta Hoffmann, who left the GDR in the 1970’s, plays this role with large, questioning eyes. This was exactly what Plenzdorf and Zschoche intended. They wanted their viewers to stay faithful to the ideals of truth and honesty rather than conform to their surroundings. After its premiere, one critic wrote that Carla “should be shown at least once to every young person who is on the threshold of adulthood and discussed in every classroom.”

Carla, together with a dozen other DEFA films, fell prey to a ban in 1965/66. A meeting of SED party functionaries labeled the film nihilistic, skeptical and hostile. Only in 1990, after the fall of the Wall, was Carla shown in cinemas.

Suggested further viewing:

The original biker flick: two motorcycle gangs descend upon a quiet town and each other. Brando is the leader of one, struggling against social prejudices and his gang’s lawlessness to find love and normal life. The touchstone for much that has come since, and still a central role in Brando’s now-long career. Brando himself believes the film failed to explore motivations for youth gangs and violence, only depicting them.

Rebel Without a Cause
1955, USA, color, 111 min.
Dir.: Nicholas Ray.
Cast: James Dean, Natalie Wood, Sal Mineo, Dennis Hopper.
16mm Swank Motion Pictures

James Dean’s most memorable screen appearance. In the second of his three films, he plays a troubled teenager from the right side of the tracks. Dean’s portrayal of Jim Stark, a teen alienated from both his parents and peers, is excellent. He befriends outcasts Wood and Mineo in a police station and together they find a common ground. Superb young stars carry this in-the-gut story of adolescence. All three leads met with real-life tragic ends. Nominated for three Academy Awards.

Blackboard Jungle
1955, USA, b/w, 101 min.
Dir.: Richard Brooks.
Cast: Sidney Poitier, Glenn Ford, Anne Francis.
16mm Swank Motion Pictures

Well-remembered urban drama about an idealistic teacher in a slum area who fights doggedly to connect with his unruly students. Bill Hailey’s “Rock Around the Clock” over the opening credits was the first use of rock music in a mainstream feature film. Nominated for four Academy Awards.

The Cranes Are Flying (Letyat Zhuravli)
1957, USSR, b/w, 94 min.
Dir.: Mikhail Kalatozov.
Script: Viktor Rozov.
Camera: Sergei Urusevsky.
Editing: Mariya Timofeyeva.
Music: Mojsei Vajnberg.
Cast: Tatyana Samojilova, Aleksei Baralov, Vasili Merkuryev.

At the time it was released, it marked a radical opening for Soviet cinema. This is a visually remarkable, romantic, lyrical story of a beautiful young woman caught up in the horrors of World War II. When her fiancé goes off to war, she marries his brother whom she doesn’t love. She is evacuated to Siberia, then at the war’s end learns her true love has died. She refuses to believe it and waits for his return. A great international success, which won the Grand Prix at Cannes.

Ashes and Diamonds (Polpiól i Diament)
1958, Poland, b/w, 105 min.
Dir.: Andrzej Wajda.
Script: Jerzy Andrzejewski, Andrzej Wajda.
Camera: Jerzy Wójcik.
Editing: Halina Nawrocka.
Music: Jan Krenz, Filip Nowak.
Cast: Zbigniew Cybulski, Ewa Krzyzewska, Waclaw Zastrzezynski, Adam Pawlikowski.
16mm, Kit Parker Films

With Wójcik’s brilliant cinematography, Wajda tells a story of the conflict of idealism and instinct. A young resistance fighter assassinates the wrong man - an act his fellow fighters convince he has to make right - indeed, the chance to be a good, honest man seems the wrong choice.

Two brothers experience troubled youth in Budapest. Artful, somberly executed, with Anglo-American pop music soundtrack. New York Critics Award, Best Foreign Film ‘82.