Wie Feuer und Flamme (5 Stars)

I don't know how many films have been made about lovers divided by the Berlin Wall. Probably a lot. It's a very good topic for a film. The only other film I've reviewed so far is "Liebe Mauer" ("Beloved Wall"). In my opinion "Wie Feuer und Flamme" ("Like Fire and Flame") is the most powerful film made so far. I'm really sad that it has only been released in German. It's a film that everybody should see.

The film was made in 2001, long after reunification, but it's set in 1982, a time when people thought the Berlin Wall would stand forever. Penelope Kaufmann is a schoolgirl from West Berlin, a typical shallow teenager who likes to party and go to discos. Her world changes when she visits East Berlin for her grandmother's funeral. After the funeral she hears loud music playing at a fairground, and she stumbles on a group of punks. She falls in love with Andreas, the singer in a punk band, and travels repeatedly to visit him. But as you can imagine, this relationship is soon noticed by the German secret police.

East Germany's music scene was suppressed for a long time. It's no coincidence that since reunification the most innovative rock and electronic groups come from the former East Germany.