Ψίθυρος & Κραυγή

cult_vegetables5.0

The kids are restless in East Berlin, a fascinating exploration of the GDR's rock scene just before the Wall came down. Incredibly, Schumann steers clear of grungy verite, instead presenting the urban landscape in stunning industrial tableaux. Like a forbidden travelogue: Drama, humor and musical rebellion under the scrutiny of the Ministry of Culture.

shookone3.0

unfocused 2hrs documentary about 4 GDR bands in the late 80s. you see the downfall of the regime upcoming cause this - like most of the student's film school projects of those years - could get shot without much hesitation from the state, opening up for "youth" movements to involve them into their ideological fabric, the one that was crumbling so intensely already. and indeed those young rock bands got even subsidized by the party. most interesting when conducting laissez-faire interviews with the young crowd at the concerts. makes this one a sweet little glimpse into the last years of the GDR and catches the vibe quite accurately.

Young Spader3.5

Wow this was pretty fascinating! Right before the fall of the Berlin Wall, this filmed in 1988 “roc doc” shows off a bunch of GDR government sponsored East German bands. The bands like Silly (communist lady singer hair metal) and Chicorée (fake INXS) kinda sucked but bands like Feeling B (proto RAMMSTEIN!) and Sandow were pretty good. But what I didn’t realize was all these bands only ever got to play because they were “certified” to play by the government. So that’s why all the song lyrics are kinda dull and are all about working, or catching the train, or dumb stuff like the color of refrigerators. And yet that’s the whole reason this “roc doc” made it past the East German government censors and even exists! Same thing with the interviews. No one identifies as a punk or says anything critical of the government or anything like that. They know big brother is watching and they don’t want to get thrown in jail.