The Legend of Paul and Paula (1973)

Original title

Die Legende von Paul und Paula

Directed by

Heiner Carow

Genre

drama film, comedy film

Country

German Democratic Republic

Runtime

1h 45m

Rated

16

Rating

5.8 of 10 from 30 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

Paul and Paula are two people in East Berlin who fall in love despite social obstacles. The story follows their intense relationship as they try to find happiness in a restrictive society.

romanticbittersweetsurrealtragicomicyearningrebelliousmelancholic

What happens

Die Legende von Paul und Paula (German: [diː leˈɡɛndə fɔn ˈpaʊl ʔʊnt ˈpaʊla] ; English: The Legend of Paul and Paula) is a 1973 surreal tragicomic East German film directed by Heiner Carow. A novel by Ulrich Plenzdorf named Die Legende vom Glück ohne Ende was based on this film. The film was extremely popular on release and drew 3,294,985 viewers (the GDR had a population at the time of around 17 million). However, due to the film's political overtones it was almost not released. East German leader Erich Honecker personally decided to allow it to be shown. Today it is one of the best-known East German films. In Berlin-Lichtenberg, part of the shore of Lake Rummelsburg, where the surrealist wedding scene was filmed, has been named Paul and Paula Shore. It received another wave of broad popular reception as part of the Ostalgie movement, and also attracts continued critical and scholarly attention. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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