Spur der Steine (1966)

Director:

Frank Beyer

Writers:

Erik Neutsch (novel)
Karl-Georg Egel (writer) ...

Release Date:

15 June 1966 (East Germany)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Plot:

A film about living and working conditons in the GDR of the 60's Includes a little lovestory of course.

Plot Keywords:

Gdr | Work | Building Construction | Drinking | Social Discontent

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Manfred Krug	...	Hannes Balla
Krystyna Stypulkowska	...	Kati Klee
Jutta Hoffmann	...	German Voice of Kati Klee
Eberhard Esche	...	Werner Horrath
Johannes Wieke	...	Hermann Jansen
Walter Richter-Reinick	...	Richard Trutmann
Hans-Peter Minetti	...	Heinz Bleibtreu
Walter Jupé	...	Hesselbarth
Ingeborg Schumacher	...	Marianne Horrath
Gertrud Brendler	...	Frau Schickedanz
Helga Göring	...	Elli
Erich Mirek	...	Oswald Ziemer
Fred Ludwig	...	Wolbig
Helmut Schreiber	...	Elsbers
Erik Veldre	...	Dieter Jochmann

Also Known As:

The Trace of Stones (International: English title)
Traces of Stones (USA) (literal English title)

Runtime:

East Germany:139 min | Germany:129 min

Country:

East Germany

Language:

German

Color:

Black and White (Orwocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

East Germany:(Banned) | UK:15 | West Germany:6 (f)

Filming Locations:

Coswig, Saxony, Germany

Company:

Deutsche Film (DEFA)

Trivia:

Director Frank Beyer originally planned to cast 'Armin Müller-Stahl' as Werner Horrath and Jutta Hoffmann as Kati Klee. However, both were involved in other projects at the time. Thus, the Polish actress Krystyna Stypulkowska got the role as Kati Klee and Jutta Hoffmann did the German voice-over for her. Beyer was happy with this decision for he believed that lending Klee's character a less well-known face would make her and her lovers' characters more ambiguous.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Die Nacht der Regisseure (1995)

visual style!

When i studied the visual style of the film, the first thing i noticed was that it was set in a widescreen format. In order to fill the screen, the film has many scenes with crowds of people. It can be also observed that the Ballas are always in a firing-squad position resembling the Western Magnificent Seven.

Camera movements and shots are very conservative and minimal that it almost looks a documentary. It used a lot of panning and close-up shots. Over-the-shoulder shots are very rare.Flashbacks were not properly executed and the black and white format adds to the ambiguity. Overall, the film doesn't have the aesthetic appeal we often see in Hollywood films yet it remains one of the best German Films for its story and historical value.