An old love

Movie
Original title	An old love
Country of production	GDR
original language	German
Publishing year	1959
length	92 minutes
Rod
Director	Frank Beyer
script	Werner Reinowski Frank Beyer
production	DEFA
music	Joachim Werzlau
camera	Günter Marczinkowsky
cut	Evelyn Carow
occupation
Gisela May : Frieda Walkowiak Erich Franz : August Walkowiak Doris Abeßer : Helga Ezard Haussmann : Lothar Peter Sturm : Heinrich Rantsch Hans-Peter Minetti : Benno Schulze Margot Ebert : Irmgard Strömer Harry Gillmann : Otto Funke Günther Simon : 1st secretary of the SED district leadership Werner Lierck : Räupke Josef Peter Dornseif : Uhland Rudolf Ulrich : Georg Jochen Thomas : Christoph Schwannecke Hans Finohr : The old Schwannecke Peter Kalisch : Besecke Horst Kube : Hagerer Walter E. Fuß : Accountant Wendler Heino Winkler : Hairdresser Dieter Perlwitz : Cooperative farmer Christoph Beyertt : Cooperative farmer Albert Zahn : Cooperative farmer Karl Block : Farmer in the pub Karin Lesch : Sabine Schröder Hans Flössel : Dr. Steinmann Walter Schramm : older cooperative farmer Bella Waldritter : Luise Funke Katharina Matz : Käthe Ditha Cullmann : Isolde Horst Riemer : Klaus Walkowiak Otti Planner : Gerda Walkowiak Hans Sievers : Gerda's husband Werner Senftleben : stocky worker Harald Moszdorf : Cooperative farmer Nico Turoff : Cooperative farmer Fritz-Ernst Fechner : Coachman Max Annelise Matschulat : cooperative farmer Ilse Bastubbe : consumer saleswoman Frank Michelis : Landlord in Weizenow Maika Joseph : head nurse Dieter Kaufmann : Sabine's friend Georg Helge : Cooperative farmer Peter A. Stiege : Chairman of the examination board

An old love is a German feature film from the DEFA studio for feature films by Frank Beyer from 1959.

action

Frieda and August Walkowiak celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary with family with friends and colleagues. In the middle of the celebration, the phone rings and the accountant of the Agricultural Production Cooperative (LPG) informs Frieda, the chairman, that the harvest workers from a company in the nearby town have arrived a day earlier and in the restaurant, where they can also provide food and drinks to be taken care of, to be able to sleep. To greet the helpers, Frieda goes to them, which annoys Gustav. Instead of a nice celebration, there is a heated argument between the old couple. Gustav demands from Frieda that she resign from the chairmanship of the LPG.

The next day, the harvest workers and the LPG members are there to lift the potatoes in a large shared field with the help of a potato harvester . The continuous workflow is interrupted by a small field that belongs to the communist Heinrich Rantsch, but who does not want to join the LPG. Together with his friend August Walkowiak, he was one of the most active new farmers during the land reform and now does not want to give up his acquired property. Since the machine-tractor station wants to pull the winter furrow shortly and the small field of Rantsch is disturbing, the LPG members decide to simply plow down the boundary stones. The dispute between Frieda and August escalates further and August moves to his friend Heinrich, because even the news that an agronomist will support the chairwoman in the future does not convince him. The daughter Helga can no longer cope with the situation and moves to her friend Sabine in the city.

While speaking at an LPG conference in town, Frieda fell weak and collapsed. In the hospital, she learns that she needs an operation, which is not due to her weakness, but to the late effects of the birth of one of her children many years ago while working in the field. When August hears about her operation, he immediately goes to her and reconsiders his entire behavior, which he now radically changes. Since the stay in the hospital extends over a long period of time, the new agronomist Irmgard represents the chairwoman and heads the LPG with the support of the SED members . In this context, the milker is expelled from the stable for stealing feed. This post is given to Lothar, a young man who has fallen in love with Walkowiak's daughter Helga, who of course comes back from town. August also feels like working actively in the LPG again and becomes head of the field construction brigade.

Heinrich Rantsch sets new border posts around his field, which are immediately removed by his friend August. This convinced him to no longer be the red bottom light in collectivization and to join the LPG.

production

An old love was shot as a black and white film under the working title Alte Liebe rostet nicht and had its world premiere on October 4, 1959 in the Volkshaus cinema in Berlin-Lichtenberg . On December 11, 1959, it was shown in the program of German television . After the collectivization campaign ended in 1960, the film was removed from the GDR cinemas.

The dramaturgy was in the hands of Gerhard Hartwig .

criticism

The Berliner Zeitung particularly highlighted Gisela May's farmer Frieda Walkowiak, who, with her unmade simplicity, her energetic seriousness and her kind heart warming, portrayed one of the finest female figures that had been seen in DEFA films until then.

The lexicon of international films states that it is a well-acted problematic film that is thematically and dramatically tied to the social objectives of the time it was made.

literature

• F.-B. Habel : The great lexicon of DEFA feature films . Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-89602-349-7 , pp. 28 to 29 .

Web links

• An old love in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• An old love at filmportal.de
• An old love at the DEFA Foundation

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Berliner Zeitung of October 25, 1959, p. 3
2. ↑ An old love. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed May 29, 2017 .