Tandem

Katharina loves Rudolf and Robert equally. The three of them walk down the aisle. A wild love triangle in the petty-bourgeois GDR? Too much for the trio's entourage. Even a reference to August Bebel doesn't help: "Monogamous marriage (...) thus undeniably forms one of the most important foundations of bourgeois society, but whether it (...) corresponds to a healthy development of human society is another question." An unusual plan emerges: Katharina will be married to one of them for 25 years, and then it will be the other one's turn....Director Bernhard Stephan, who celebrated his 80th birthday this year, quickly succeeded in establishing himself as a sought-after television director after the DEFA was dissolved. TANDEM, which was his last and most successful work for DEFA, is a film from the time of reunification that is still worth seeing, with a star-studded cast that included Nina and Hannelore Hoger, Vadim Glowna and Winfried Glatzeder. (Philip Zengel)