The Legend of Rita (2000)
"Die Stille nach dem Schuß" (original title)

Rita Vogt is a radical West German terrorist who abandons the revolution and settles in East Germany with a new identity provided by the East German secret service. She lives in constant ... See full summary »

Director:

Volker Schlöndorff

Writers:

Wolfgang Kohlhaase, Volker Schlöndorff

Stars:

Bibiana Beglau, Martin Wuttke, Nadja Uhl

4 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bibiana Beglau	...	Rita Vogt
Martin Wuttke	...	Erwin Hull
Nadja Uhl	...	Tatjana
Harald Schrott	...	Andreas 'Andi' Klein
Alexander Beyer	...	Jochen Pettka
Jenny Schily	...	Friederike Adebach
Mario Irrek	...	Joachim Klatte
Franca Kastein	...	Anna
Thomas Arnold	...	Gerngross
Dietrich Körner	...	General
Rudolf Donath	...	Tatjanas Vater (as Rudolph Donath)
Monika Pietsch	...	Tatjanas Mutter
Matthias Wien	...	Doktor Gruber (as Matti Wien)
Petra Ehlert	...	Beate
Hannelore Schubert	...	Christa

Storyline

Rita Vogt is a radical West German terrorist who abandons the revolution and settles in East Germany with a new identity provided by the East German secret service. She lives in constant fear of having her cover blown, which unavoidably happens after the German re-unification.

---

Plot Keywords:

terrorist | new identity | radical | east germany | revolution | 

---

Genres:

Drama | History | Romance | Thriller

---

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

Germany

Language:

German French English

Release Date:

14 September 2000 (Germany)

Also Known As:

The Legend of Rita

Filming Locations:

Baltic Sea

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$9,318 (USA) (26 January 2001)

Gross:

$671,565 (USA) (23 March 2001)

Company Credits

Production Co:

ARTE, Babelsberg Film, Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

Rita is working in a railway vehicle factory as part of her second legend, supposedly in 1989. But in one scene, when Rita is walking across the factory yard, one can clearly see car bodies of class 481 EMUs and H-Type metro vehicles, not in production until the late 1990s.

---

Connections

References Viva Maria! (1965)

---

Soundtracks

"Street Fighting Man"
Performed by The Rolling Stones

User Reviews

Good political film that could do with a better English title

'the legend of rita' is an unfortunately choice of title when compared to the German 'die stille nach dem schuss'. The film is about how members of small armed revolutionary groups come to terms with what remains of their lives ('die stille') between/after periods of action ('dem Schuss'), not principally about one person, let alone their 'legend', even if there is only one character who is continually present.

Since the group in question hides out for a period in the ddr, a number of occasions arise in which the politics of armed guerillas and that of the ddr are compared, and both appear a long way off the kind of broad participatory socialism they are often mistakenly taken to aspire to. The exchanges between the main stasi officer and rita about the role of violence and the state are particularly priceless.