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 | 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

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

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film was made and first released about ten years after its source novel "Lagerfeuer" by Julia Franck had been first published in 2003.

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Connections

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

User Reviews

Brilliant, German, period refugee story

In 1975 Nelly's husband left her for a business trip – he never came back from Russia. We pick up the story three years later when she and her young son Alexej are given permission by the DDR – German Democratic Republic - to emigrate to the West. Original title of this German film is 'Westen' and it is in both German and English with good sub titles).

Once she gets to the 'Promised Land' she discovers that things are not as rosy as she had been informed. This is her story. There is a lot more to it than above and it is timely for a release at the moment to show how attitudes were then to refuges and how, sadly, little has really changed.

The period detail is excellent; the acting is great with Jördis Triebel as Nelly doing a performance that will guarantee future work offers. The issues that are dealt with are done in a way to show the human cost of prejudicial and judgmental attitudes, but there is a lot of love here too. This is one of those films that when it is over it will leave you wanting more – an easy one to recommend.