Die Stille nach dem Schuss (4 Stars)

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)

1. 1924    Der letzte Mann
2. 1926    Metropolis
3. 1931    M - Eine Stadt sucht einen Mörder
4. 1946    Die Mörder sind unter uns
5. 1950    Die Sünderin
6. 1951    Der Untertan
7. 1951    Der Verlorene
8. 1955    Des Teufels General
9. 1956    Die Halbstarken
10. 1958    Das Mädchen Rosemarie
11. 1958    Es geschah am hellichten Tag
12. 1959    Die Brücke
13. 1966    Der junge Törless
14. 1966    Spur der Steine
15. 1969    Rote Sonne
16. 1969    Katzelmacher
17. 1972    Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes
18. 1973    Die Legende von Paul und Paula
19. 1975    Lina Braake
20. 1975    Die verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum
21. 1976    Im Lauf der Zeit
22. 1976    Nordsee ist Mordsee
23. 1978    Deutschland im Herbst
24. 1978    Die Ehe der Maria Braun
25. 1979    Die Blechtrommel
26. 1979    David
27. 1980    Lili Marleen
28. 1980    Theo gegen den Rest der Welt
29. 1981    Die bleierne Zeit
30. 1981    Das Boot - Director's Cut
31. 1981    Christiane F. - Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo
32. 1982    Die weisse Rose
33. 1982    Fitzcarraldo
34. 1985    Stammheim
35. 1987    Der Himmel über Berlin
36. 1987    Out of Rosenheim
37. 1996    Jenseits der Stille
38. 2000    Die innere Sicherheit
39. 2000    Die Stille nach dem Schuss
40. 2000    Die Unberührbare
41. 2003    Goodbye, Lenin
42. 2004    Gegen die Wand
43. 2005    Alles auf Zucker!
44. 2006    Der freie Wille
45. 2006    Sehnsucht
46. 2006    Vier Minuten
47. 2006    Wer früher stirbt,  ist länger tot
48. 2007    Auf der anderen Seite
49. 2007    Yella
50. 2009    So glücklich war ich noch nie