Westerners (film)

Movie
Original title	Westerners
Country of production	Germany
original language	German
Publishing year	1985
length	94 minutes
Age rating	FSK 16
Rod
Director	Wieland bacon
script	Wieland Speck, Egbert Hörmann
production	Wieland bacon
music	Engelbert Rehm
camera	Klemens Becker , Ivan Kocman
cut	Gabriele Bartels , Wieland Speck
occupation
Sigurd Rachman : Felix Rainer Strecker : Thomas Andy Lucas : Bruce Frank Redieß : Bernie Andreas Bernhardt : Jürgen Sasha Kogo : Elke Hans-Jürgen Punte : Lutze Zazie de Paris : night club singer Harry Baer : Customs officer Christoph Eichhorn : actor Jörg Uwe Dost : Guest at the bar Thomas Kretschmann : Soldier Georges Stamkowski : Pavel The Waltons : Band Martin Zastrow : band member Engelbert Rehm : band member Andrew Kelner : Little child

Westler is a 1985 television film directed by Wieland Speck , which was broadcast in the same year as part of the series Das kleine Fernsehspiel on ZDF and opened in German cinemas on May 28, 1987.

action

The film tells the story of Felix from West Berlin who falls in love with Thomas from East Berlin while visiting an American acquaintance. Felix has to return to West Berlin shortly before midnight and after a while the border guards become suspicious of the young man's frequent entry. In order to be able to lead a life together, Felix and Thomas finally plan Thomas' escape from the GDR. Thomas flies to Prague and tries from there to get to the west with an escape agent. However, at the end of the film it remains unclear whether this escape will succeed.

background

Westler is characterized in particular by his portrait of a homosexual relationship under difficult circumstances, which was realistic for the time, and by the secretly filmed scenes in East Berlin .

Reviews

• Helmut Schödel in Die Zeit : "... secretly has to be filmed, secretly loved ... it's about love, not about truth ... I'm excited ..."
• Lexicon of international film : “A film about a 'love between systems' in multiple senses; he tries to describe the Berlin Wall not only as an obstacle between people and political blocs, but also as a borderline between the old and the new world. "

• Uwe Witiatock, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung : “Partly without official filming permission and therefore shot with a hidden camera, the divided city of Berlin has an unreal, strange atmosphere, as if we were in Hong Kong or Singapore. You feel put into the role of a zoo visitor, whom you admire under what conditions some creatures live in a completely different world. "

• taz : “The love story between the young men is extremely pleasant, unobtrusive and disgraceingly natural. Partly actually filmed with a hidden camera at original GDR locations, WESTLER is one of the few German productions that is worthwhile! "

Awards

• 1986: Max Ophüls Film Festival - Audience Award
• 1986: San Francisco International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival - Audience Award
• 1987: Torino International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival - Festival's Plate

Web links

• Westerners in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Westler at filmportal.de

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Westerners. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed April 1, 2019 .  
2. ↑ Westerners. In: ffmop.de. Retrieved April 1, 2019 .