Two Films Playing at German Gems Festival in January

~ Lincoln Spector

I’ve previewed two films that will be screened at the upcoming German Gems festival. Here’s what I thought of them.

Both films will screen at the Castro on Saturday, January 14

B+ Above Us Only Sky (Über uns das All), 4:30. Writer/director Jan Schomburg gives us a sad yet sexy story about the secrets that separate us from those we love the most. Schomburg spends the first 15 above_us_only_skyminutes showing us that Martha (Sandra Hüller) is very happily married, even though she can’t help feeling that husband is hiding something. Then, without warning, he commits suicide. She begins to hunt for an explanation, which may make you think that this film will turn into a thriller. It doesn’t. The reasons for his mysterious and tragic act take a back seat to the main story–that of a young woman dealing with profound and sudden grief. With frightening swiftness, long before the emotional scars heal, she throws herself headlong into a new relationship with a guy who vaguely reminds her of her late husband. Her new man is nice, intelligent, and sensitive, but he can’t help feeling that she’s hiding something. The ending is a little too upbeat. As near as I could tell, the title is not a reference to John Lennon.

B Westwind, 7:30. Two young women–17-year-old twins–come of age while Communism begins to unravel in this effective but predictable story of forbidden love. East German athletes and extremely close siblings, Doreen and Isabel travel to Hungary to train for international competition. It’s 1988, and Hungary is already considerably looser than East Germany. They meet and flirt with some West German boys, which seems harmless enough even after westwindtheir supervisor warns them about the danger of contact with westerners. But when Doreen falls head over heels in love with one of the boys (it’s mutual), both their future as athletes and the twins’ close relationship is threatened. Screenwriters Ilja Haller and Susann Schimk, and director Robert Thalheim, paint an image of a Communism that feels warm and friendly at first glance, and repressive when you look closely. For instance, the athletic camp they’re staying in looks positively idyllic, but it’s surrounded by a barbed-wire fence (which allows for some Pyramus and Thisbe imagery).

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Published by Lincoln Spector

Lincoln Spector writes about cinema, technology, and cinema technology. From 1986 through 2008, he wrote Gigglebytes, the first technology-oriented humor column. From 1977 through 2016, he wrote PC World's Answer Line column and blog.