Letters from the flag
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Letters from the flag |
| Country of production | GDR |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1985 |
| length | 21 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Ernst Cantzler |
| script | Ernst Cantzler |
| production | DEFA studio for documentary films |
| camera | Thomas Plenert |
| cut | Gudrun Plenert |
Letters from the banner is a documentary film of the DEFA Studios for Documentary Films of Ernst Cantzler from the year 1985 .
action
The married couple Gerald and Marion Thorno sit on the sofa at home and have a shoebox full of letters in front of them that they received during Gerald's time with the NVA (called by almost all residents of the GDR only "flag", similar to "Bund" for the Bundeswehr ) from 1979 to 1982. Now they randomly pull out individual letters that they read to the camera team. Gerald is now 24 years old, a car mechanic and has two children with his wife. They were not married five years ago, but their daughter Jessica was already on the road when he had to start his three-year service with the NVA. He has now been married for 1 ½ years, the second child Janin is just one year old and after only two years at home he has to do reservist service in the army for three months . He openly admits that he actually doesn't feel like doing it, but sees the need.
On the second day after his arrival at the barracks , Gerald is already writing the second letter to his wife. As he reads this letter, recordings of the first days of his reservist service are shown. His interest in the letter is in the children and he writes that he loves them and Marion very much, but at the same time realizes that there are only 86 days left until his return home. He also writes that he had been dressed the day before, even if they are all worn items. He seems to have a good feeling about the other soldiers who share the room with him.
Marion says that she will be working as a cashier in a department store again now that her mother's year is over. Because they do not have Nurseries place has got Gerald's mother takes the little Janin in time, working in the Marion goes to, as it has already done with Jessica there. There is still enough to do after work, when both children are back home. Marion is already wondering whether she should perhaps reduce her working hours to six hours so that she has more time for the children and the housework.
During the next few weeks, Gerald was repeatedly observed with the camera while on duty. Even his award "Letter to the wife" is recorded and the full text is read out. In between, excerpts from the conversation he and Marion had with the director before the reservists' mission are faded in. Excerpts from the letters both sent during the quarter of their separation are also repeatedly quoted. Finally, Marion says that it would be nice if the weapons were completely abolished and the men could always be at home, with their wives and their children. But that would be too nice a dream.
Production and publication
Letters from the Flag was shot as a black and white film under the working title Reservists by the artistic work group "document" and was first shown in GDR cinemas on February 22, 1985.
The dramaturgy was in the hands of Annerose Richter .
criticism
Jochen Wisotzki wrote in Neues Deutschland :
"About the letters of a married couple, created during the young man's service with the NVA, the film reveals attitudes that are determined by mutual affection and at the same time by the awareness of their own responsibility for the preservation of life."
Gisela Harkenthal said in the Berliner Zeitung that this film is a sympathetic portrait of a young married couple who are temporarily separated due to their service in the NVA. Through Thomas Plenert's camera work he gains dignity and wealth.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Neues Deutschland, June 18, 1985, p. 4
- ↑ Berliner Zeitung of June 22, 1985, p. 10