West (2013)

She Can See Her Future, But Can't Escape Her Past.

Director:

Christian Schwochow

Writers:

Heide Schwochow (screenplay), Julia Franck (novel)

Stars:

Jördis Triebel, Tristan Göbel, Jacky Ido

5 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jördis Triebel	...	Dr. Nelly Senff
Tristan Göbel	...	Alexej Senff
Jacky Ido	...	John Bird - CIA-Agent
Anja Antonowicz	...	Krystyna Jablonowska (as Anna Antonowicz)
Ryszard Ronczewski	...	Jakub - Krystynas Vater
Andreas Nickl	...	Gerd Becker
Polina Voskresenskaya	...	Jelena
Alexander Scheer	...	Hans Pischke
Hendrik Arnst	...	Pförtner Neumann
Michael Benthin	...	Arthur Wilhelm
Tatjana Berges	...	Großmutter von Jelena
Angelika Böttiger	...	Dame vom ärztlichen Dienst
Winnie Böwe	...	Susanne
Indre Bogdan	...	Frau mit roten Haaren
Diana Maria Breuer	...	Beamtin 1 (as Diana-Maria Breuer)

Storyline

East Germany. Summer, late 70's. Three years after her boyfriend Wassilij's apparent death, Nelly Senff decides to escape from behind the Berlin wall with her son Alexej, leaving her traumatic memories and past behind. Pretending to marry a West German, she crosses the border to start a new life in the West. But soon her past starts to haunt her as the Allied Secret Service begin to question Wassilij's mysterious disappearance. Is he still alive? Was he a spy? Plagued by her past and fraught with paranoia, Nelly is forced to choose between discovering the truth about her former lover and her hopes for a better tomorrow.

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Plot Keywords:

boy wears eyeglasses | berlin germany | border | germany | german | 

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Taglines:

Can you leave everything behind

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for a sex scene, brief nudity and violence

Did You Know?

Trivia

German censorship visa # 142704 on 6-1-2014.

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Connections

References I'm Shy, But I'll Heal (1978)

User Reviews

East vs. West

A document of a time passed by. And while I don't think this feels to dated (if you let yourself into the mood and time when the movie playing), you will like what you see. It's a story about people trying to survive, while being confronted by politics and paranoia. It isn't (or rather wasn't easy) to live like this. Even harder to survive when you try to stay in the middle.

While some might argue that this feels like a movie of the week type, I'd disagree. It might have a story line that is close to that, but the acting and the framing, lighting and everything else point out that this is more than that. If you like your drama to feel as real as possible (with touches of a thriller), here you go

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

Germany

Language:

German English Russian Polish

Release Date:

7 November 2014 (USA)

Also Known As:

West

Filming Locations:

Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$220,857

Company Credits

Production Co:

ö Filmproduktion, Zero One Film, Terz Filmproduktion

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1