The Red Cockatoo (2006)

A coming-of-age story set in Germany in the 1960s. Siggi becomes involved in a love triangle when he falls for Luise, but the tightening political climate forces him to make a fateful decision.

Director:

Dominik Graf

Writers:

Karin Aström, Michael Klier

Stars:

Max Riemelt, Jessica Schwarz, Ronald Zehrfeld

3 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Max Riemelt	...	Siggi
Jessica Schwarz	...	Luise
Ronald Zehrfeld	...	Wolle
Ingeborg Westphal	...	Tante Hedy
Devid Striesow	...	Hurwitz
Kathrin Angerer	...	Frau Männchen
Tanja Schleiff	...	Rena
Volker Michalowski	...	Kleiner Lewerenz (as Volker Zack Michalowski)
Klaus Manchen	...	Großer Lewerenz
Heiko Senst	...	Arne
Nadja Petri	...	KGB
Lutz Teschner	...	Funktionär
Felix Mödl	...	Bandleader
Peter Schneider	...	Bassist
Ljubisa Ristic	...	Miro

Storyline

In April 1961, in Dresden, the teenager Siggi meets the aspirant poetess Luise in a park and falls in love with her. He befriends her husband, the womanizer worker Wolle, to be close to Luise. Siggi smuggles porcelain objects that belonged to his parents to West Berlin to sell and make money to go to a night-club with Wolle and his friends. Meanwhile, the totalitarian system increases the repression of the youngsters and Wolle is arrested by the dictatorial regime. Siggi publishes Luise's poems and she is arrested. Siggi assumes the blame to release Luise but when he is chased by the Stasi, he calls Luise to go with him to the West Germany. Luise promises to meet him but she would bring Wolle with her. On 13 August 1961, the German Democrat Republic begins building the Berlin Wall.

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Plot Keywords:

infidelity | female nudity | cheating wife | nude swimming | coming of age | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | History | Romance

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Did You Know?

Connections

References The Hired Gun (1957)

User Reviews

Very authentic feeling, great performances, deserves higher ratings

Broad performances, very interesting individuals in a wider story context than just a love-story or would-be-comedy about East Germany again, not so unnervingly 'funny' as »Sonnenallee« etc. The savage and insinuating violence of a dictatorial regime, the willingness of people to stick to their dream of a new society (Luise) just until it's shattered, are universal themes. The specialty of blatant disregard for the genocide and dictatorship that just took place and shook the earth is in this outcome very German. It struck me that the late regime is never a topic for those young people in the movie, the murdering of millions of innocent children, women and men because of their so called »race«. And then again, the characters are mostly too young for their part (but they surely have former Nazi-parents). But than I realized: it was never a topic in Germany as a whole those days, it was stored away in some dark cellar just to make it go away and don't come back until... a movie like »Sophie Scholl« came out about the few brave there were..., very human, very sad (even sadder that the latter became an Oscar-Nomination as even crap as »The Untergang/Downfall« did). But this movie does not pretend to be all this stuff, it is just more universal, less German, more intellectual, sensual, even the gags are more sophisticated than the regular German ones (they are good! - they make the characters edgier and even more lovable). I don't want to forget to mention the great acting, the touching love-story, the growing-up story. At first I didn't want to see another GDR-Movie but it turned out to be much more sophisticated and multi-angled than that. Very warm and focused on the characters, and Jessica Schwarz is lovably natural again without letting go the earnest part of her character - who wouldn't fall in love with her... go see it!

Details

Official Sites:

CTV International [France] Official site [Germany]

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Release Date:

16 February 2006 (Germany)

Also Known As:

The Red Cockatoo

Filming Locations:

Berlin, Germany

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$400,092

Company Credits

Production Co:

X-Filme Creative Pool, Medienfonds GFP, Sat.1

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1