The seas are calling

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Movie
Original title The seas are calling
Country of production GDR
original language German
Publishing year 1951
length 86 minutes
Rod
Director Eduard Kubat
script Jan Petersen
Otto Bernhard Wendler
production DEFA
music Horst Hanns Sieber
camera Emil Schünemann
cut Ruth Schreiber
occupation

Calling the Sea is a DEFA German feature film directed by Eduard Kubat in 1951 .

action

Ernst Reinhardt and Franz Nölte lived with their families as resettlers in Mecklenburg in May 1948 . Both are fishermen and want to finally work in their jobs again, which is why they go to the Baltic Sea to Wulkow to apply for the newly founded Baltic Sea Fishery, a state- owned company . When Nölte saw the situation in the uncleaned harbor and the local innkeeper also made negative comments about the fishing operation, he refrained from his plans and decided to move with his family to the American occupation zone in Bremerhaven . Reinhardt nevertheless applies to the director Stüber, who has work for him and his family, but the company has not yet had a cutter on which he can go fishing. Until then, however, he can go on a private fisherman's boat and thus bridge the time until the ordered cutter arrives. He is also sent a questionnaire that he fills out at home, but on the advice of his wife, he withholds his membership in the NSDAP .

A few months later, Nölte and his family have gained a foothold in Bremerhaven, the first 12 cutters from the Stralsund shipyard arrive in Wulkow and are handed over to the designated skippers. Only Ernst Reinhardt did not get any, but the next day the offer was made to head the fishing department and be responsible for all operations in the port. The doubts that arise in him because of his false statement in the questionnaire are in turn dispelled by his wife. Her son Walter Reinhardt, who is friends with Käthe Flemming, who was previously employed as a network worker and is now moving up to administration, is studying at the Wustrow Seafaring School . The daughter Gisela Reinhardt, who continues to work in net production, is in love with Hans Freese, who is also studying in Wustrow, which is mutual.

In the Nölte family in Wilhelmshaven, the house blessing is crooked, because the daughter Inge has no desire to help with the household and only comes home early in the morning, which annoys her father very much. To avoid this annoyance, she looks for a room to sublet . But there are also problems with the sale of the caught fish, because Nölte and many of his colleagues are no longer able to negotiate a reasonable price at the auctions, as many foreign fishermen offer their goods at low prices. So it happens that some of the fishermen, including Nölte, go east to Wulkow in order to sell their catch there at good prices. On the first trip, the son Heinz Nölte visits his childhood friend Gisela Reinhardt at her workplace on the net floor and arranges to meet for a dance in the evening. Here he makes Gisela curious about Bremerhaven and his sister Inge, who is said to have turned out to be a fine lady, and promises her to take her secretly with him on his father's cutter. In Bremerhaven, Gisela leaves the ship and makes her way to Inge's apartment, which she does not find there, but in a dance hall where she works as a taxi girl for a fee. At their table there is also an admirer who wants to take Gisela home with him, but she refuses.

Ernst Reinhard immediately got a few days off to fetch his daughter back from Wilhelmshaven after it turned out that she had relied on Nölte's boat Wulkow. He drives to Franz Nölte immediately and finds his daughter with him, whom he immediately takes to his hotel room. The next day he went to the city administration to complete his registration formalities and was called into a room in which members of the American secret service were already waiting for him. They are well informed about Ernst Reinhardt, including the fact that he should make inquiries about the fishermen who have applied to work in Wulkow in the future and blackmail him with the knowledge of the false statement of party affiliation in his personal file. His task is to hand over the construction documents for the cutter used in Wulkow and the plans for the expansion of the entire East German fishery to a courier , for which he is offered good payment.

Back in Wulkow one day, Ernst Reinhardt found an anonymous letter on his desk in which he was told that he should soon hand over the documents requested by the Americans. Although his wife persuaded him after his return from Bremerhaven not to tell anyone about his experiences there, he is now ready to reveal himself to the director Stüber. At the same time, Franz Nölte was sitting with Kurt Schöller, Head of Human Resources, to apply for a job in the Baltic Sea fishery.He also said that he, like Ernst Reinhard, was a member of the NSDAP, which is how Schöller and Stüber found out about the falsification of the personnel file. But since Reinhardt contacted them almost at the same time and told them the whole story about the Americans, he regained their trust. You report the incident to the People's Police , which immediately begins further processing the case, so they are already there when the documents are to be handed over to the courier in the Pascholle restaurant. Here the colleague Schweikert from the HR department sits down with him and explains to him that he is the expected messenger. When leaving the restaurant, Schweikert speaks to Pascholle, who is also a member of the agent organization , and demands that he be taken to the West as soon as possible. Of course, both are under police surveillance from this moment on. The next morning Schweikert climbs with the documents on a cutter that is supposed to take him to Bremerhaven, but the boat is followed by a speedboat from the border police so that he can be arrested on board. The same fate befell the innkeeper Pascholle early in the morning in his apartment.

Production and publication

The Call of the Sea was shot as a black and white film in the Babelsberg studio, the outdoor shots were made in Sassnitz . The scenario comes from Jan Petersen and Marieluise Steinhauer was responsible for the dramaturgy. Artur Günther created the buildings, Richard Brandt took over the production management .

The film had a double premiere on December 14, 1951 in the Berlin cinemas Babylon and DEFA-Filmtheater Kastanienallee . It was first broadcast in the Official Test Program of the Berlin TV Center on August 12, 1955.

criticism

Horst J. Nachtweih said in the Neue Zeit :

“The film is mainly based on outdoor shots, whereby the wet element was an unfamiliar atmosphere for the unseaworthy film people. But that in no way excuses the poor performance of the actor in some settings. Here characters were required who know life and also understand how to overcome enormous difficulties. Even with the "ole film rabbit and fur seal" Hans Klering you could not get rid of the feeling at times that he did not really know what to do with his role. "

Hans Ulrich Eylau said in the Berliner Zeitung :

“On the whole, then, a film that entertains without ambitious artistic claims and that also conveys instruction and valuable knowledge. Good everyday food. We are still waiting for a top-class product. "

Herman Müller wrote in Neues Deutschland :

“The basis of a realistic film must always be a convincing representation of the decisive social forces. Instead, a series of incidents is cleverly strung together. Because of all the tinkering, even the sea was forgotten. It leads a photographically meager existence on the fringes. At least astonishing for a film with this title. "

The lexicon of international films describes the content as a development film of the GDR without an artistic level, but with a clear ideological goal. However, it serves as a model example of socialist realism with late Stalinist influences and is of contemporary documentary value.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Alfred Bauer : German feature film Almanach. Volume 2: 1946-1955 , pp. 205 f.
  2. ↑ Neue Zeit of December 18, 1951, p. 4
  3. ↑ Berliner Zeitung of January 4, 1952, p. 4
  4. ↑ Neues Deutschland from January 4, 1952, p. 4
  5. ↑ The seas are calling. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed August 30, 2019 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used