If anyone asks me for an example of a typical German film I would point at this film. It exemplifies the often repeated statement, "American films are made to entertain the audience, German films are made to educate the audience". That might make German films sound boring, but the opposite is the case. This film is both thrilling and fascinating. Literally translated, the title means "The silence after the gunshot", but it has been released in America as "The Legend of Rita".
The German reunification in 1990 was a wonderful event welcomed by almost everyone. This film is about someone who dreaded reunification and suffered when it happened. It features a young female idealist in the early 1980's called Rita Vogt. Even though she is a fictional character, the things that happened to her closely mirror the events around others at the same time. She was opposed to the capitalist system in West Germany, so she called herself a terrorist and robbed banks. Maybe it sounds cynical putting it like that, but it's a fact that the main occupation of German terrorist groups in the post-war period was robbing banks. This is the reason why the German government refused to give terrorist prisoners political status. They were treated like any other bank robbers. Politically, Rita would have considered herself part of the third generation of the Rote Armee Fraktion.
After shooting a policeman Rita flees to East Germany. The Communist authorities welcome her with open arms and supply her with a new name and new identity. For a few years she's able to live in anonymity. The problems begin in 1989. In the months leading up to reunification the governments of the two Germanys begin to cooperate with one another. Rita and the other retired terrorists in East Germany are exposed and hunted by the police.
The DVD that I watched today is a special release as part of a series sponsored by the weekly magazine "Der Spiegel". It features the 50 best German films from 1910 to 2010. It's a very good list, and if I counted correctly I already own 15 of the films. There are certain omissions, in my opinion, but that's always the case with any of these top 50 lists. Tastes differ, and everyone has a favourite film that he'd like to see included. Below is the complete list. Anyone who buys all the films in this list will have a good collection.
List of 50 best German films (1910 to 2010)
- 1924 Der letzte Mann
- 1926 Metropolis
- 1931 M - Eine Stadt sucht einen Mörder
- 1946 Die Mörder sind unter uns
- 1950 Die Sünderin
- 1951 Der Untertan
- 1951 Der Verlorene
- 1955 Des Teufels General
- 1956 Die Halbstarken
- 1958 Das Mädchen Rosemarie
- 1958 Es geschah am hellichten Tag
- 1959 Die Brücke
- 1966 Der junge Törless
- 1966 Spur der Steine
- 1969 Rote Sonne
- 1969 Katzelmacher
- 1972 Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes
- 1973 Die Legende von Paul und Paula
- 1975 Lina Braake
- 1975 Die verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum
- 1976 Im Lauf der Zeit
- 1976 Nordsee ist Mordsee
- 1978 Deutschland im Herbst
- 1978 Die Ehe der Maria Braun
- 1979 Die Blechtrommel
- 1979 David
- 1980 Lili Marleen
- 1980 Theo gegen den Rest der Welt
- 1981 Die bleierne Zeit
- 1981 Das Boot - Director's Cut
- 1981 Christiane F. - Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo
- 1982 Die weisse Rose
- 1982 Fitzcarraldo
- 1985 Stammheim
- 1987 Der Himmel über Berlin
- 1987 Out of Rosenheim
- 1996 Jenseits der Stille
- 2000 Die innere Sicherheit
- 2000 Die Stille nach dem Schuss
- 2000 Die Unberührbare
- 2003 Goodbye, Lenin
- 2004 Gegen die Wand
- 2005 Alles auf Zucker!
- 2006 Der freie Wille
- 2006 Sehnsucht
- 2006 Vier Minuten
- 2006 Wer früher stirbt, ist länger tot
- 2007 Auf der anderen Seite
- 2007 Yella
- 2009 So glücklich war ich noch nie
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