Das siebente Jahr

Seven days until the seventh wedding anniversary: heart surgeon Barbara Heim (Jessy Rameik) questions her life, which is shaped by the balancing act between an exhausting job and a frequently neglected family life with her daughter and husband, a successful actor (Wolfgang Kieling). DAS SIEBENTE JAHR uses a double-structured narration (chapters divided into seven days and a self-reflexive voiceover by the protagonist) to explore gender equality and the potential for conflict between public and private life, science, and art. Roland Gräf's documentary-like and observational camera work often blurs the boundaries between reality and fiction. Vogel's Denk bloß nicht, ich heule (GDR 1965/90) was banned after the 11th Plenum of the Central Committee of the SED in 1965. It was not until DAS SIEBENTE JAHR that Vogel was again able to make an original artistic film. Critics praised Jessy Rameik's incisive performance. It was the first time after 1957 that Wolfgang Kieling, embodying his alter ego, had worked at DEFA since moving back to the GDR. (mw)