Gundi Gundermann
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Gundi Gundermann |
| Country of production | GDR |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1983 |
| length | 74 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 0 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Richard Engel |
| script | Richard Engel |
| production | Television of the GDR |
| music |
Gerhard Gundermann Alfons Förster |
| camera | Bernd Sperberg |
| cut | Susanne Carpentier |
Gundi Gundermann is a documentary of the television of the GDR by Richard Engel from the year 1983rd
action
Gerhard (Gundi) Gundermann , born in Weimar , has been at home in Hoyerswerda since he was 12 years old, rides his bike through the city, goes to the fair with his son, drives with the film team to his excavator and sings one of his songs. this is how Richard Engel's documentary begins. Opinions from colleagues, friends and the mother are heard, which give a first impression. Gundi Gundermann also has a say and says that when he was 12 he would have preferred to return to Weimar, to this peaceful, quiet and green city. But already at the age of 14 he wanted to be in the place where the fight was, paired with the longing to be needed.
In high school he founds a singing club with other interested parties , in which his first song is written, which deals with the war in Vietnam. One of his teachers is of the opinion that he only writes the first few texts to attract attention. After his time in the army, he began to work in the open pit as a machinist, hoping to earn a lot of money so that life could really start now. His new colleagues are shocked when they see him for the first time. It then goes so far that nobody wants to work with him anymore because he can't do anything. Then a rethinking begins and Gundermann begins to take his work seriously in order to show everyone else what he can do. With his action he is also pulling other young people with him, who are now training to be excavator drivers in order to take on more responsibility. In the course of this further development, Gerhard joined the SED , in which he often got into trouble because of his idiosyncrasy, his failure to understand the principle of democratic centralism and his problems with being part of the collective . The comments made by several comrades on these allegations are not exactly positive for Gundermann.
Like other young people, Gundi experienced the lack of cultural opportunities in Hoyerswerda, saw the relative ineffectiveness of the singing club and founded the Feuerstein Brigade with friends. This means many new forms, such as fairy tale games for children, school concerts and events for young married couples, for which they have to practice jazz dance, drama, pantomime and dance music. They rehearse up to five times a week in their free time and Gundi is the engine for these activities, which he wants to endure. But not all members of the Feuerstein Brigade can and will not meet these high conditions, which is why Gundi wants to start over in the near future with the people who meet his requirements. Work in any form is Gundi's livelihood, which sets him apart from most others and a celebration that has nothing to do with work is not a celebration for him.
At the end of the shooting, a lot had changed in Gundi Gundermann's life. According to his ideas, he now works as a jumper and is deployed in the opencast mine wherever there is need. He has left the Feuerstein Brigade and is in the process of building a new group. He's just moving and wants to start a family.
It is also worth mentioning that Gundi Gundermann performs over ten of his songs.
Production and publication
Gundi Gundermann was shot on ORWO-Color on behalf of East German television . According to Richard Engels himself regarding the DVD released in 2016, there were 70 change requirements of the station managers, which could be reduced to three. Only then was the film finally broadcast at the end of January 1983, hidden in the late-night television program of the GDR.
The first officially announced broadcast took place on November 29, 1983 in the first program of East German television.
The dramaturgy was in the hands of Uwe Röhmhild . The texts of the songs performed come from Gerhard Gundermann.
criticism
In the Neue Zeit of December 2, 1983, Mimosa Künzel remarked:
“'Gundi Gundermann' is the title of a portrait, a brilliantly crafted worker portrait, but this time not offered by publicists. […] In this retrospective, Fraktur is talked about, the cards are laid face up on the table. From the green sofa and on the heap, Gundermann comments on the arguments of the others, and it can be seen from every sentence that there is someone who does not give up, who is shaped by life, our life, who has learned to use his head, who still bumps himself sore and healthy in his own way, who fully 'plays out' his being there, also in his songs. "
On September 2, 1993, the Berliner Zeitung read:
“The filmic portrait of the excavator operator and songwriter Gerhard Gundermann from 1983 shows something of the critical attitude towards life of part of the GDR youth at the beginning of the 80s. That led to strong rejection from those responsible at the time, and the documentary by Richard Engel was only allowed to be broadcast in the late program. "
Awards
- 1984: State award: "Particularly valuable"
- 1984: Special prize from the “Theory and Criticism” section of the GDR's Association of Film and TV Makers
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Neues Deutschland, November 29, 1983, p. 8
- ↑ Neue Zeit of December 2, 1983, p. 4
- ↑ Berliner Zeitung of September 2, 1993, p. 32
- ↑ Neue Zeit of March 13, 1984, p. 4
- ↑ Berliner Zeitung of March 16, 1984, p. 7