31/10/2019
GERMAN FILM CLUB by Goethe-Institut Indonesien
6 NOVEMBER 2019 - 19 H
at Kedai Kebun
presents
(for English please scroll down)
SONNENALLEE
Sutradara: Leander Haußmann, 1998/99, Feature Film, 94 menit, English subtitles
Pemain: Alexander Scheer, Alexander Beyer, Robert Stadlober, Teresa Weißbach, Katharina Thalbach, Detlev Buck, Henry Hübchen
Pemuda 17 tahun Micha Ehrenreich hidup dengan orang tua dan saudara perempuannya di Sonnenallee, sebuah daerah di Berlin yang sebagian besar terletak di Neukölln (jadi di Berlin bagian barat), dan sedikit ujungnya di Treptow (jadi di bagian timur kota yang terpisah). Micha tinggal di bagian ujung (jadi di Timur) dan berkhayal untuk menjadi pop star terkenal. Ia tidak peduli pada politik – ia tidak setuju juga tidak menentang sistem DDR. Namun ia ingin – seperti yang dibicarakan orang-orang, jika seseorang muda dan memberontak – mengobrak-abrik seluruh organisasi kemasyarakatan ‚dari dalam‘. Juga masih ada teman Michael bernama Mario yang eksistensialistis dan sahabat mereka Wuschel yang mendapat kesulitan karena piringan hitam Rolling-Stones.
Seorang paman yang tinggal di Barat menyelundupkan nylon untuk ibunya Micha, memperjuangkan perang terhadap pencemaran asbes di DDR dan pada akhir film meninggal karena kanker paru-paru. Dan seorang tetangga akhirnya menjadi mata-mata untuk Stasi – atau mungkin tidak? Michael hanya tahu, bahwa ia jatuh cinta pada Miriam: Miriam yang luar biasa tapi tak dapat diraih. Ia bersedia melakukan apa pun untuknya.
Dalam SONNENALLEE kehidupan anak muda di Berlin Timur dan di perbatasan pada tahun 1973 digambarkan secara humoris. Film ini tidak selalu setia pada fakta dan sesekali berlebihan (sebagian dengan ekstrim) dalam menyikapi masalah-masalah khas rakyat DDR dengan tujuan untuk membuat sebuah film yang bisa dipahami oleh setiap orang tanpa harus mengalaminya sendiri atau memiliki pengetahuan tentang sejarah.
Pada akhir cerita komik film dipotong oleh cuplikan-cuplikan dramatis. Kenyataan bahwa teman Michael, Mario, membiarkan dirinya ditawari pekerjaan oleh Stasi karena alasan pribadi dan eksistensial diterima Michael sebagai sebuah pukulan berat dan secara mendasar menyebabkan masalah bagi persahabatan mereka. Sekuen penutup menunjukkan, bahwa pernyataan cinta Michael kepada cinta sejatinya Miriam akhirnya berhasil.
Leander Haußmann memberikan peran-peran utama kepada pemain yang saat itu sama sekali belum dikenal, namun peran-peran pembantu diberikan kepada veteran-veteran ternama seperti Katharina Thalbach, Henry Hübchen dan Ignaz Kirchner.
Kritik dan saran:
„Film pertama dari sutradara teater Leander Haußmann menginginkan sebuah dongeng bohong dan kehormatan. Oleh karena itu film ini masuk ke bioskop pada ulang tahun ke-50 berdirinya DDR. Tentu saja film ini bisa diputar pada tanggal 9 November, bertepatan dengan hari runtuhnya tembok Berlin, namun merayakan hari kematian tidaklah baik. Dan film ini merayakan sesuatu yang sepuluh tahun yang lalu mati bersamaan dengan DDR: penyangkalan prinsip hidup – dan meskipun itu sangat kecil. Dalam SONNENALLEE ada banyak hal-hal yang subversif dan sejenisnya. Mereka memanipulasi banyak hal seperti juga Michael yang sebagai pejuang menulis di buku harian yang kemudian dipersembahkannya untuk Miriam.“ (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung)
„Selamat datang kekeabsurdan, juga dikenal sebagai zone timur. Ini pertengahan tahun70-an dan semua hal tak mungkin: Michael ingin menjadi pop star dan pacar Miriam. Anak-anak muda mendambakan perjuangan dan Rolling Stones (harga sebuah piringan hitam di pasar gelap: 250 Ostmark), orang tua mereka mendambakan telefon dan stocking nylon. Paling tidak benda yang disebutkan terakhir diselundupkan seorang paman dari Barat. Sisanya adalah keseharian yang licik: Ada meja lipat yang bandel, pesta kelas yang garing, tetangga Stasi, narkoba buatan pemerintah („Asthmakraut dari Halle“), FDJ dan tembok. Yang disebut terakhir membentang melalui Sonnenallee – sebuah jalan yang terbagi di Berlin yang terbagi.“ (Cinema)
„Nampaknya kita memang sangat lelah untuk menyaksikan kehidupan di DDR dalam bentuk dramaturgi pertelevisian, sehingga sekarang SONNENALLEE berfungsi seperti jalur pemisah pemahaman – penuh makna ditempatkan dalam rangka 50 tahun berdirinya DDR pada tanggal 7 Oktober. (Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger)
„‘Dari awal sampai akhir membuat muntah, tapi kami benar-benar terhibur‘, itulah akhir film ini jika diungkapkan dengan provokatif.“ (Deutsches Allgemeines Sonntagsblatt)
„Mungkin kata diktator diganti dengan monarki. DDR yang pasca-stalinistis (!) DDR memang sedikit diktator daripada monarki diletantis. Sebuah monarki-pekerja. Dengan pemerintahan dan orang-orang gila. Dan terlalu banyak kurir dengan tugas khusus.
Dengan cara berbicara sendiri ada hal-hal buruk tentang penghinaan terhadap kepala negara. Para kaum terjajah pun tidak bisa sesukanya pergi ke mana mereka mau. Monarki diparodikan. Dan buku-bukunya Brussig berbau Schwejk. Schwejk dalam kediktatoran, nampaknya tak mungkin. Namun Schwejk di DDR, ternyata pas sekali. Hampir setiap orang adalah Schwejk Dan Brussig dan Haußmann yang bersama-sama menulis skenario untuk SONNENALLEE telah menempatkan monumen ironis tingkat tinggi dan absurd.“ (Tagesspiegel)
Biografi sutradara:
Leander Haußmann mengambil studi di sekolah tinggi Berliner Hochschule für Schauspielkunst Ernst Busch. 1991 ia dinobatkan sebagai sutradara muda berbakat terbaik, 1995 ia mengambil alih kepemimpinan Schauspielhaus Bochum yang dipegangnya sampai tahun 2000. Untuk film bioskopnya SONNENALLE pada tahun 2000 Haussmann dan Thomas Brussig memperoleh penghargaan perak Drehbuchpreis der Bundesregierung und den Deutschen Filmpreis. Sejak saat itu kemampuan penyutradaraan teaternya direalisasikannya di Volksbühne di Berlin, di Berliner Ensemble, di Thalia-Theater di Hamburg dan di Residenz-Theater di München.
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Sonnenallee
Director: Leander Haußmann, 1998/99, Feature Film, 94 min., German with English subtitles
Cast: Alexander Scheer, Alexander Beyer, Robert Stadlober, Teresa Weißbach, Katharina Thalbach, Elena Meißner, Detlev Buck, Henry Hübchen, Ignaz Kirchner, Margit Carstensen
Micha and his friends grow up on the short, Eastern part of the Sonnenallee in Berlin that is cut off by the Wall right in front of their houses. One of the few, strictly secured border crossings between East and West connects to the other part of the street. Sometimes a relative or friend of the family living on the other side of the Wall comes with goods from the West that are not available or even forbidden in the East (for example nylons, real coffee or Western rock music). Despite all absurd restrictions life so close to the border implicates, the youngsters enjoy their youth like every teenager in the world with celebrating forbidden parties, falling in love and checking out their own limits.
The film "Sonnenallee" ventures a look back to GDR times – it is not a maudlin portrayal, but an unabashedly sentimental and fabulously exaggerated one. It is the story of young people, forbidden music and dances, and of that special love that changes everything. In his cinematic debut, former theatre director Leander Haussmann attempts to capture the prevailing mood of 1970s East Berlin.
17-year-old Micha Ehrenreich lives with his parents and sister on the divided street Sonnenallee, the majority of which runs through Neukölln (in the West), while a short section extends into Treptow (in the eastern half of the divided city). Micha lives on the shorter part (in the East) and dreams of becoming a famous pop star one day. He doesn't really care about politics – he is neither particularly in favour of the GDR system, nor is he particularly against it. Nonetheless, he does – like any young and rebellious person – talk of stirring up the entire social structure "from the inside". Then there is Michael's mildly existential friend Mario, and their mate Wuschel, who gets himself into trouble when he is found with a Rolling Stones album.
Micha has an uncle from the West who smuggles in nylon tights for his mother, rants about the dangers of asbestos contamination in the GDR and, ultimately, dies of lung cancer by the end of the film. And then there’s a neighbour who is a Stasi informer, or is he? The only thing Michael is sure of is that he loves Miriam: the wonderful, unattainable Miriam. He would do anything for her.
"Sonnenallee" paints an amusing picture of life for young people in East Berlin in 1973, on the border between East and West. The film is not always factually correct, sometimes stretching the truth (often to the extreme) about the problems for the citizens of the GDR. But it succeeds in being a film that everyone can relate to, even if they didn't experience it themselves, or know nothing of the history.
At the end of the film, several dramatic interludes interrupt the comedy. The fact that Michael's friend Mario signs up to join the Stasi, for private and existential reasons, comes as a heavy blow to Michael, calling him to question the very foundations of their friendship. The closing sequence reveals that Michael's quest to win Miriam's love has proved successful.
Leander Haussmann cast completely unknown actors in the film’s lead roles while enlisting a supporting cast made up of highly-respected veterans of their trade, including Katharina Thalbach, Henry Hübchen and Ignaz Kirchner.
Reviews and recommendations
"Theatre director Leander Haussmann’s film debut attempts to be a fabrication and a tribute. It was released in cinemas on the 50th anniversary of the founding of the GDR for this reason. Of course, they could have released it on 9 November, the day the Berlin Wall fell, but it would not have been difficult to celebrate on the day the GDR died. And this film is a celebration of something that perished with the GDR ten years ago: objection as a way of life – even if it was a very small thing. "Sonnenallee" is home to vocal subversives to the state and to those who proclaim to be such. They all fashion self-images that fit accordingly; including Michael, who writes up diary entries ex post facto in which he depicts himself as a counterinsurgent from an early age to impress Miriam." – Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
"Welcome to Absurdistan, also known as the Eastern Sector. It is the mid-70s and nothing is possible: Michael wants to become a pop star and Miriam's boyfriend. Teenagers dream of resistance and of the Rolling Stones (price of LP on the black market: 250 Ostmarks); their parents, of their own telephone and nylon tights. At least there's an uncle who can smuggle the latter from the West, past the watchful eye of block warden – pardon, Abschnittsbevollmächter (local policeman). In all other respects, everyday life is treacherous: there are collapsible tables with minds of their own, dreary class parties, Stasi neighbours, state-issued drugs ("Herbal Asthma Remedy from Halle"), the Free German Youth and the Wall. All this plays out in Sonnenallee – a divided street in divided Berlin." – Cinema
"It seems that we have simply grown tired of hearing about life in the GDR from the dramatic stories on TV, so now "Sonnenallee" has come to shed some new light on the subject – fittingly released on the 7 October, the 50th anniversary of the founding of the GDR." – Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger
"'It was horrendous from start till finish, but we had a magnificent time' - or so it says, quite provokingly, at the end of the film." – Deutsches Allgemeines Sonntagsblatt
"Maybe we should replace the word dictatorship with the word monarchy. Post-Stalinist(!) GDR was less a dictatorship than an amateurish monarchy. A workers' monarchy. With a royal court, court jesters and grand viziers. And far too many messengers assigned to special tasks. And it goes without saying that the worst you could do was insult the throne. In addition, subjects were not allowed to travel wherever they wanted. It is always fun to parody monarchies. And Brussig's books are Schwejkian. Schwejk in a dictatorship would be absurd. But Schwejk in the GDR would fit perfectly. Nearly everyone there was like Schwejk. And, when writing the screenplay for "Sonnenallee", Brussig and Haussmann managed to create a highly ironic and absurd memorial to this everyman." – Tagesspiegel
Director’s biography
Leander Haussmann studied at the Ernst Busch Academy for Acting in Berlin. In 1991 he was selected Best Young Director; in 1995 he took over the post of Director at Bochum Playhouse, which he held until 2000. In 2000 Haussmann and Thomas Brussig were awarded the German Government Prize for Best Screenplay and the German Film Prize in Silver. Since then he has been staging theatre productions at the Berlin National Theatre, with the Berlin Ensemble, at the Thalia Theatre in Hamburg and at the Residenz Theatre in Munich.
The film "Sonnenallee" ventures a look back to GDR times – it is not a maudlin portrayal, but an unabashedly sentimental and fabulously exaggerated one. It is the story of young people, forbidden music and dances, and of that special love that changes everything.
Credits
In his cinematic debut, former theatre director Leander Haussmann attempts to capture the prevailing mood of 1970s East Berlin.
17-year-old Micha Ehrenreich lives with his parents and sister on the divided street Sonnenallee, the majority of which runs through Neukölln (in the West), while a short section extends into Treptow (in the eastern half of the divided city). Micha lives on the shorter part (in the East) and dreams of becoming a famous pop star one day. He doesn't really care about politics – he is neither particularly in favour of the GDR system, nor is he particularly against it. Nonetheless, he does – like any young and rebellious person – talk of stirring up the entire social structure "from the inside". Then there is Michael's mildly existential friend Mario, and their mate Wuschel, who gets himself into trouble when he is found with a Rolling Stones album.
Micha has an uncle from the West who smuggles in nylon tights for his mother, rants about the dangers of asbestos contamination in the GDR and, ultimately, dies of lung cancer by the end of the film. And then there’s a neighbour who is a Stasi informer, or is he? The only thing Michael is sure of is that he loves Miriam: the wonderful, unattainable Miriam. He would do anything for her.
"Sonnenallee" paints an amusing picture of life for young people in East Berlin in 1973, on the border between East and West. The film is not always factually correct, sometimes stretching the truth (often to the extreme) about the problems for the citizens of the GDR. But it succeeds in being a film that everyone can relate to, even if they didn't experience it themselves, or know nothing of the history.
At the end of the film, several dramatic interludes interrupt the comedy. The fact that Michael's friend Mario signs up to join the Stasi, for private and existential reasons, comes as a heavy blow to Michael, calling him to question the very foundations of their friendship. The closing sequence reveals that Michael's quest to win Miriam's love has proved successful.
Leander Haussmann cast completely unknown actors in the film’s lead roles while enlisting a supporting cast made up of highly-respected veterans of their trade, including Katharina Thalbach, Henry Hübchen and Ignaz Kirchner.
Reviews and recommendations
"Theatre director Leander Haussmann’s film debut attempts to be a fabrication and a tribute. It was released in cinemas on the 50th anniversary of the founding of the GDR for this reason. Of course, they could have released it on 9 November, the day the Berlin Wall fell, but it would not have been difficult to celebrate on the day the GDR died. And this film is a celebration of something that perished with the GDR ten years ago: objection as a way of life – even if it was a very small thing. "Sonnenallee" is home to vocal subversives to the state and to those who proclaim to be such. They all fashion self-images that fit accordingly; including Michael, who writes up diary entries ex post facto in which he depicts himself as a counterinsurgent from an early age to impress Miriam." – Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
"Welcome to Absurdistan, also known as the Eastern Sector. It is the mid-70s and nothing is possible: Michael wants to become a pop star and Miriam's boyfriend. Teenagers dream of resistance and of the Rolling Stones (price of LP on the black market: 250 Ostmarks); their parents, of their own telephone and nylon tights. At least there's an uncle who can smuggle the latter from the West, past the watchful eye of block warden – pardon, Abschnittsbevollmächter (local policeman). In all other respects, everyday life is treacherous: there are collapsible tables with minds of their own, dreary class parties, Stasi neighbours, state-issued drugs ("Herbal Asthma Remedy from Halle"), the Free German Youth and the Wall. All this plays out in Sonnenallee – a divided street in divided Berlin." – Cinema
"It seems that we have simply grown tired of hearing about life in the GDR from the dramatic stories on TV, so now "Sonnenallee" has come to shed some new light on the subject – fittingly released on the 7 October, the 50th anniversary of the founding of the GDR." – Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger
"'It was horrendous from start till finish, but we had a magnificent time' - or so it says, quite provokingly, at the end of the film." – Deutsches Allgemeines Sonntagsblatt
"Maybe we should replace the word dictatorship with the word monarchy. Post-Stalinist(!) GDR was less a dictatorship than an amateurish monarchy. A workers' monarchy. With a royal court, court jesters and grand viziers. And far too many messengers assigned to special tasks. And it goes without saying that the worst you could do was insult the throne. In addition, subjects were not allowed to travel wherever they wanted. It is always fun to parody monarchies. And Brussig's books are Schwejkian. Schwejk in a dictatorship would be absurd. But Schwejk in the GDR would fit perfectly. Nearly everyone there was like Schwejk. And, when writing the screenplay for "Sonnenallee", Brussig and Haussmann managed to create a highly ironic and absurd memorial to this everyman." – Tagesspiegel
Director’s biography
Leander Haussmann studied at the Ernst Busch Academy for Acting in Berlin. In 1991 he was selected Best Young Director; in 1995 he took over the post of Director at Bochum Playhouse, which he held until 2000. In 2000 Haussmann and Thomas Brussig were awarded the German Government Prize for Best Screenplay and the German Film Prize in Silver. Since then he has been staging theatre productions at the Berlin National Theatre, with the Berlin Ensemble, at the Thalia Theatre in Hamburg and at the Residenz Theatre in Munich.
