Here is yet another deeply flawed German film. I am not a fan of German cinema in general. In fact it generally looked pretty bleak since the end of the expressionist era. There have been rare exceptions, with films like Goodbye Lenin and the recently successful The Lives of Others, but the exceptions really are quite rare.
In this East German production, there is a message. The message is the one of reclusion of people within the East German boarders. The wish for the East Germans to live a life of more freedom and the prevention of that wish that comes from the politicians and important people. In this film, the people are represented by a group of ambitious architects that set about bringing some radical changes in East German architecture, and in the planning of a mall. However, the people in higher places keep pushing them down, not agreeing with their avant-guard ideals that seem to be an attack on the government.
The message is never really conveyed. The story pitfalls quite regularly into clichés, as main character Daniel has problems with the wife, yet another wife from an East German production, that wants more from life. In fact, she has another lover, files for divorce and takes his daughter off to Switzerland. Again, the idea could have been an interesting message on the wishes of the East Germans to change their lives which they feel they are wasting, but that never comes across, thanks to a horrible script that certainly doesn't help the actors, who are also in turn terrible.
What to say of the non-existent direction of Peter Kahane, unknown German director who should well remain that way. Here is a director with no talent, and when he wants to show the world that he does have talent, he comes across as cheesy. Like in the "It's a Wonderful Life" framings of Daniel's family, hugging and kissing, to show how united they are. That is simply terrible. And the movie never stops feeling like a bad TV-film, thanks to horrible cinematography and an editing that never helps the pacing of the dull plot (again, the main defect lies in the script).
There is one scene that is quite touching. When Daniel's daughter, towards the end of the film, calls her father, telling him that she is on a school tour in West Berlin. There is his chance to catch a glimpse of her. So, he stand on the other side of the wall, but does not see her. This is a touching scene, and, for what it's worth, that minute out of one hundred other useless ones, is quite good.
But the fights that Daniel has with his wife are never believable, because they don't have any. The whole sequence is terrible, and so surreal because there never is a big fight. I mean, she is being terribly selfish. She is taking his daughter to Switzerland, away from him, and she is the one who files for divorce, just when he is starting to build up on his career.
As for the rest of the story, on the architectural restrictions, it's just plain boring. It's not even admirable to think that this film came about during the Berlin Wall era because it was released on the year after it fell.
To finish it all, I must say, what this film also lacked and made the whole thing more boring, was lack of comic relief. The director obviously wasn't a fan of Hitchcock. And Comic Relief was obviously needed in some parts of the film, but it never comes about. In fact, the funniest thing about it is the (probably involuntary) comparison that it can have with the Blues Brothers, when at the start of the film, Daniels gathers up his team (one member of that team more annoying and stubborn than the other) just as the Blues brothers gather up the members of their band in the omonimous film. I must hence advise you to watch the Blues Brothers instead of this, it may not have as important a message, but overall, it is a much better film.
In this East German production, there is a message. The message is the one of reclusion of people within the East German boarders. The wish for the East Germans to live a life of more freedom and the prevention of that wish that comes from the politicians and important people. In this film, the people are represented by a group of ambitious architects that set about bringing some radical changes in East German architecture, and in the planning of a mall. However, the people in higher places keep pushing them down, not agreeing with their avant-guard ideals that seem to be an attack on the government.
The message is never really conveyed. The story pitfalls quite regularly into clichés, as main character Daniel has problems with the wife, yet another wife from an East German production, that wants more from life. In fact, she has another lover, files for divorce and takes his daughter off to Switzerland. Again, the idea could have been an interesting message on the wishes of the East Germans to change their lives which they feel they are wasting, but that never comes across, thanks to a horrible script that certainly doesn't help the actors, who are also in turn terrible.
What to say of the non-existent direction of Peter Kahane, unknown German director who should well remain that way. Here is a director with no talent, and when he wants to show the world that he does have talent, he comes across as cheesy. Like in the "It's a Wonderful Life" framings of Daniel's family, hugging and kissing, to show how united they are. That is simply terrible. And the movie never stops feeling like a bad TV-film, thanks to horrible cinematography and an editing that never helps the pacing of the dull plot (again, the main defect lies in the script).
There is one scene that is quite touching. When Daniel's daughter, towards the end of the film, calls her father, telling him that she is on a school tour in West Berlin. There is his chance to catch a glimpse of her. So, he stand on the other side of the wall, but does not see her. This is a touching scene, and, for what it's worth, that minute out of one hundred other useless ones, is quite good.
But the fights that Daniel has with his wife are never believable, because they don't have any. The whole sequence is terrible, and so surreal because there never is a big fight. I mean, she is being terribly selfish. She is taking his daughter to Switzerland, away from him, and she is the one who files for divorce, just when he is starting to build up on his career.
As for the rest of the story, on the architectural restrictions, it's just plain boring. It's not even admirable to think that this film came about during the Berlin Wall era because it was released on the year after it fell.
To finish it all, I must say, what this film also lacked and made the whole thing more boring, was lack of comic relief. The director obviously wasn't a fan of Hitchcock. And Comic Relief was obviously needed in some parts of the film, but it never comes about. In fact, the funniest thing about it is the (probably involuntary) comparison that it can have with the Blues Brothers, when at the start of the film, Daniels gathers up his team (one member of that team more annoying and stubborn than the other) just as the Blues brothers gather up the members of their band in the omonimous film. I must hence advise you to watch the Blues Brothers instead of this, it may not have as important a message, but overall, it is a much better film.