This month’s DEFA film evening is dedicated to author and screenwriter Helga Schütz: DIE SCHLÜSSEL (Egon Günther, 1973) and FALLADA – LETZTES KAPITEL (Roland Gräf, 1988) were made using her scripts, with a long, intensive partnership connecting her to both directors. DIE SCHLÜSSEL tells the love story between a mismatched young couple which ends tragically, as their conflicts come to the surface during a holiday in Poland. An aesthetically experimental DEFA film, whose reflections about German-Polish relations caused problems with the censors. FALLADA – LETZTES KAPITEL depicts the last ten years (1937–47) in the life of poet Hans Fallada. His longing for harmony collides with the circumstances of the time and his own internal conflict. As Fallada, Jörg Gudzuhn lives through depressions, affairs, and manic writing phases, during which his final great work “Alone in Berlin” is created. (jh) (3.12.)
