Just Don't Think I'll Cry
(Denk bloß nicht, ich heule)
Denk bloß nicht, ich heule © DEFA-Stiftung, Jörg Erkens
| Vogel, Frank |
| Freitag, Manfred |
| Nestler, Joachim |
| Scharfenberg, Dieter |
| Krause, Helga |
| Ost, Günter |
| Horn, Harald |
| Gründel, Dorit |
| Hosalla, Hans-Dieter |
| Antoni, Carmen-Maja |
| Buder, Horst |
| Delmare, Fred |
| Göring, Helga |
| Hardt-Hardtloff, Hans |
| Hindemith, Harry |
| Hoffmann, Jutta |
| Köfer, Herbert |
| Kretzschmar, Anne-Kathrein |
| Reusse, Peter |
| Wyzniewski, Arno |
Synopsis
High-school senior Peter considers the adults around him to be hypocritical, self-congratulatory and immersed in the past. He gets suspended for writing an essay that his teachers see as a challenge to the state.
A masterpiece of critical realism. Just Don’t Think I’ll Cry was one of 12 films and film projects – almost an entire year’s production – that were banned in 1965-66 due to alleged anti-socialist elements. Although scenes and dialogs were altered and the end was re-shot twice, officials condemned this film as "particularly harmful." In 1989, cinematographer Ost restored the original version for a screening of the banned films in January 1990.
Awards
| 2024 | Retrospective, Berlin Int. Film Festival, Germany |
| 2003 | Shown at the Amiens Film Festival |
| 1990 | FIPRESCI Prize – Honorable Mention, Forum of New Cinema, Berlin International Film Festival |
| 1990 | Interfilm Award – Honorable Mention, Forum of New Cinema, Berlin International Film Festival |
Press comments
"Just Don’t Think I’ll Cry was the most objectionable of the 12 films that the 11th plenum of the central committee of East Germany’s SED party banned in 1965. Despite compulsory re-edits and the director’s self-criticism, this stark depiction of generational conflict was not released. The re-constructed version was not shown until 1990." —2024 Berlin Int. Film Festival
“This film plays out a generational conflict that was paradigmatic for the period.”
— Henning Wrage, Die Zeit der Kunst
“Formally an exceptionally dense and brilliantly performed film.”
— Lexikon des Internationalen Films
“Peter Reusse strikes the right note.... A boy who resists social pressure and dogmatism with rebelliousness. A touch of James Dean.”
— Birgit Galle, Neues Deutschland
“It is always a remarkable experience to encounter actors who, back then, were still at the beginning of their development and who have followed winding paths. Jutta Hoffmann, for example, who, for many years the GDR's number one film star, was forced out of the country as a result of pettiness, narrow-mindedness and stupidity.”
— Peter Claus, Junge Welt
