Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) was the author of Werther, the romantic novel that was transformed into a play during Goethe's lifetime and which initiated the whole German romantic movement. The book's story tells of young love and suicide. In this East German film, based on a book by...
Maria, a young student sees her brother Dieter going to prison for sedition against the state. She starts an affair with Paul, a judge who turns out to be the one who sentenced her brother, which eventually leads to a confrontation.
For the "Festival of good ideas" that is to take place in their residential quarter the musically enthusiastic young Bum wants to rehearse a music show along with his friends. With pans, cans, hooters and other junk they make music. Some adults get angry about that. Others like the second-hand...
A conference is to be held once again to discuss the construction of a new dam, which Professor Paul Satie rejects. During a train journey, he spontaneously leaves the train. Here in Wolfsgrün, from 1948 to 1950, he helped build the old, now far too small dam as a youth brigadier. He and the...
A Saxon village in 1792: While the Prussians go against France, the haymaking takes place in the village and the resolute Marthe catches her daughter Ev with the village blacksmith Ruprecht in the hay.
In an act of friendship and solidarity between two mining towns in 1929, the locals of Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine, give their flag as a gift to the locals of Bergstedt, Germany in this GDR propaganda film. This quickly takes on a symbolic meaning for the miners in Bergstedt as the Nazi party demands that...
The tale of young Gritta who lives with her father, an unsuccessful inventor. When her new stepmother tries to put her away in a convent she discovers some dark secrets there.
A dead body is found in a burning car on the Berlin-Leipzig highway. The police investigate: Murder. Objects found in the car point to gold smuggling. At the funeral of the murdered man, his circle of acquaintances is scrutinized. They are all suspects. The trail leads detective Lindner to a bar.
In August of 1914, amidst the public ecstasy surrounding the impending war, Hans Gastl, the young son of a Munich bürger, makes a decision: he will not take part in this war. This resolution signifies a turning point in his life; a farewell to his class and his family.
Günter and Gudrun Piesold are very busy with their careers as a TV comedian and an actress, so Grandma takes care of household chores and childcare. But when Grandma remarries, the Piesolds are faced with chaos at home and a burning question: Who will take care of the household?
Karin, who is in her mid-thirties, works as registrar but has been divorced for several years. Together with her 16-year old daughter Nora, she leads a happy and independent life. Then, she finds a new partner in the mathematician Peter, but does not tell her daughter about him. When Peter proposes...
She is called Dona Juanita: the attractive young architect Anita Nachtigall, who manages a department on a large construction site with great success. She is said to have had many affairs and, so it is said, the death of a certain Sawallish. The evil afterspeech puts Anita so that she announces her...
In a king's kingdom there is a forest so dangerous that every man who goes into it is never heard from again. Iron Hans, who is responsible for the deaths, is found at the bottom of a lake and locked up in the king's palace
The film describes the activity of an ABV of the People's Police in its section in East Berlin. A mixture of “positive” characters from the beginning, the extensively staged “owl”, who is introduced as a criminal and over the course of time, especially due to the influence of the ABV,...
The marriage of Katrin and Richard Lot has become a routine. She has a career and he, as a Marine officer, comes home only once every fourteen days. The children greet him with joy, but she greets him only with anxiety because their marriage is missing its key ingredient: love. She wants a divorce,...
On one very fine sunny day, a fourth-grader Thomas, as always, is out of the house in the morning to get to school by subway. But on this day he has a too good mood and that, along with the good weather, prevents him get to the lessons. He decides to skip his station, and take a walk through Berlin.
Long-haul driver Hannes (Manfred Krug) picks up a young hitchhiker, Herb (Jaecki Schwarz), who had a falling-out with his parents after dropping out of college and now travels around doing odd jobs. After a series of adventures, they are joined by Johanna (Jutta Hoffmann) and her child, who missed...
Susanne and Christian get to know each other during a wonderful week in summer - and fall in love. This, however, leads to conflicts: up to now, Susanne has been living with Wolfgang, a biologist. This shared life was harmonious and based on mutual trust. Wolfgang is not only resolute and in full...
