Vaterland (1986)

Vaterland: Directed by Ken Loach. With Gerulf Pannach, Fabienne Babe, Sigfrit Steiner, Cristine Rose. A singer swaps the political intimidation of working in East Germany for the equally controlling capitalist music industry in the West.

“Supposing this comment was not about u0026quot;Fatherlandu0026quot;, what would the sentence u0026quot;Berlin filmed in the final years of its partitionu0026quot; call to mind? I am pretty sure most film fans would answer u0026quot;Wings of Desireu0026quot;, Wim Wendersu0026#39; iconic portrait of Germanyu0026#39;s former (and future) capital. Few would think of Ken Loach and his mostly overlooked 1986 u0026quot;Fatherlandu0026quot;. And yet, this modest movie is as eloquent – not to say more – as Wendersu0026#39; creative allegory of the Berlin of the late eighties, a couple of months before the fall of the disgraceful Wall. In u0026quot;Fatherlandu0026quot;, both the East and the West Side of the cities are shown in a very documentary-like style, including the Wall that parts them, complete with its checkpoints, watchtowers and memorial crosses at places were u0026quot;defectorsu0026quot; got gunned down. And did you know that half a dozen of the technicians who worked on u0026quot;Fatherlandu0026quot; would embark on Wim Wendersu0026#39; u0026quot;Wings of Desireu0026quot; one year later? u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe story (for there is one) concerns a protest singer by the name of Klaus Drittemann (his second name meaning u0026quot;Third Manu0026quot;, an obvious allusion to Graham Greene, Harry Lime and another German city partitioned after the war, Vienna). An East German citizen, Drittemann has annoyed the communist authorities with his committed songs so much so that he is now banned from performing on the scenes of his country. Worse, he is forced to emigrate to West Berlin, leaving his wife and little boy behind. Across the border, he is awaited by the executives of an American record company who are eager to turn his u0026quot;defectionu0026quot; into big bucks and untold political propaganda. But Klaus wonu0026#39;t be exploited so easily and soon proves more interested in tracking down his father, a concert pianist who also left his family in East Berlin and who has disappeared for a decade.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis first part of the film rings amazingly true and it is easy to figure out why. As a matter of fact, u0026quot;Fatherlandu0026quot; tells the true story of his main actor, Gerulf Pannach. A protest singer himself in East Germany, jailed in the seventies, forced to emigrate to the West; Pannach performs his own songs, the most remarkable of which being his aptly titled u0026quot;Singing the Blues in Redu0026quot;. The icing on the cake is that Gerulf Pannach is an excellent actor (although this was to be his only appearance on the silver screen) and he brings a note of brooding determination and ironic disillusionment that enriches his character. On the other hand, in this first half, Loach manages to present the two sides in an impartial way, putting forward their mutual good and bad points. This is made possible thanks to Klaus Drittemann/Gerulf Pannachu0026#39;s attitude, at ease neither in the communist nor in the capitalist system. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe second part, although more suspenseful than the former one, is a bit baffling at first. With Klaus in search of his missing father, isnu0026#39;t Ken Loach starting a new, independent story and losing the thread? Indeed, he has his main character leave Germany for England, on more familiar ground, the viewer thinks a bit ironically. A new character is even introduced, Emma, a French-Dutch journalist, who has found out the address of Drittemannu0026#39;s father, now living in hiding in Cambridge as James Dryden. But as soon as the conversation between the Harry Lime-type father and his son starts everything finds itself in its place again: the issue is Germany and how free people can get in a place where they can be under the yoke of Nazism, Communism or Capitalism. Besides that this second section is enhanced by the presence of Fabienne Babe, a fresh unaffected actress who does justice to a role which is not without ambiguity.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAll in all, this is a thought-provoking, historically important work that would deserve to be better known.”