Spur der Steine (1966)

A film about living and working conditions in the GDR of the 60's. Includes a little love story of course.

Director:

Frank Beyer

Writers:

Erik Neutsch (novel), Karl-Georg Egel (screenplay)

Stars:

Manfred Krug, Krystyna Stypulkowska, Jutta Hoffmann

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Manfred Krug	...	Hannes Balla
Krystyna Stypulkowska	...	Kati Klee
Jutta Hoffmann	...	Kati Klee (voice)
Eberhard Esche	...	Werner Horrath
Johannes Wieke	...	Hermann Jansen
Walter Richter-Reinick	...	Richard Trautmann
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

Storyline

Hannes Balla is the foreman of a group of building construction workers at the large construction site "Schkona" in the GDR. They spend most of their time working hard and drinking harder - to some they are fun, to some they are a public nuisance. Things get more complicated when the good-looking Kati Klee is employed as a young technician, and the ambitious new Party Secretary, Werner Horrath, aims to boost work efficiency and downsize Balla's ego. Kati slowly warms up to Werner, but is also attracted to Balla's nonconformity. A contemporary movie about work, love, and everything in between.

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Plot Keywords:

work | building construction | building site | working class | love triangle | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Details

Country:

East Germany

Language:

German

Release Date:

1 July 1966 (East Germany)

Also Known As:

Trace of Stones

Filming Locations:

Coswig, Saxony, Germany

Company Credits

Production Co:

Deutsche Film (DEFA)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

139 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White (Orwo-Kinofilm)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

While at first the film was broadly advertised in East-Germany and drew great anticipation, opposition within the Ministry of Culture (Ministerium für Kultur) grew shortly before its planned release. Posters and other advertisements were removed without further ado, and the conservative newspaper Neues Deutschland was the only one allowed to publish a review. The film's premiere (the show was sold out and Frank Bayer and the main cast were present) was disrupted by audience members shouting denounciations during the screening. The same was true for most of the screenings in Berlin and other cities. It is believed that these protests were secretly organized by the Ministry of Culture, as they resulted in the film disappearing from theaters within three days. "Spur der Steine" was classified as hostile to the party (the SED) and to East-Germany as a whole and was not screened again until October 1989.

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Connections

Featured in Manfred Krug - Ich wollte echt sein (2014)

User Reviews

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.