WIR SIND DAS VOLK - MOVIE [DVD] [2008]

This is in my opinion another excellent film made in Germany in more recent years about the wretchedness of life under the Communist hegemony of the so-called "GDR". It shocked and fascinated me in equal measure. The screenplay and acting are brilliant, a huge improvement over standards in the 1980s when I was living and working in the FGR. The documentary clips showing the real-life figures and what they had to say when the "GDR" edifice was crumbling add to its excellence and fascination. In the same genre I have also enjoyed watching "Barbara", "Ballon" and "Und Der Zukunft Zugewandt". How terribly and tragically misguided all those hundreds of thousands of Germans in the East were, who thought that they must actively support and justify the gigantic prison that was the "GDR"! Thank you to German film-makers and thank you to Amazon UK!

Great film.

I saw this film on danish TV. It is of historical importance that as many as possible understand what DDR was, an inhumame system build on terrorizing the citizens. This film shows it on the human level. This said it is incomprehensible that english subtitles is not included. It would immensively expand the potential audience. I stand here, hand full of money to throw ... but my German lacking! All the post-DDR films deserves a broader world audience and subtitling is crucial.. Bornholmer Strasse not the least!

“Wir sind das Volk: Liebe kennt keine Grenzen” (We are the People: Love knows no Borders) – a German mini-series in two parts about the final days of the East German state – was shown on German television (SAT.1) and released on DVD in October 2008. The English title is “The Final Days.” Here is some basic information about it: ** Directed by Thomas Berger ** Written by Silke Zertz ** Soundtrack: German – no English subtitles ** Run time: part one = 94 minutes; part two = 87 minutes ** Total running time: 181 minutes The cast includes the following: ** Anja Kling as Katja Schell ** Hans-Werner Mayer as Andreas Wagner – Katja’s boyfriend ** Lino Sliskovic as Sven Schell – son of Katja and Andreas ** Matthias Koeberlin as Micha Schell – Katja’s brother ** Felicitas Woll as Mandy Knoop ** Ronald Zehrfeld as Dirk Faber – a friend of Micha’s ** Mina Tander as Esther Frings – Dirk’s girlfriend ** Lucas Gregorowics as Lutz Baumann ** Anna Fischer as Jule Hoffmann ** Jörg Schüttauf as Bernd Hoffmann – Jule’s father – and a policeman ** Kirsten Block as Gunda Hoffmann – Jule’s mother ** Heiner Lauterbach as Bert Schäfer – a Stasi officer “Wir sind das Volk” is a historical drama, i.e. a fictional story that is placed in a historical context. In this case, the final days of East Germany. The first scene takes place in Berlin in August 1983 when Mathias Schell and Andreas Wagner attempt to escape from East Berlin to West Berlin by crossing the death zone and climbing over the Berlin Wall. [Mathias is Katja’s brother, while Andreas is Katja’s boyfriend.] They almost make it. But when they get to the wall, they are discovered by East German border guards, who start shooting. Both men are hit. Mathias drops to the ground on the eastern side, and he does not survive. Andreas drops to the ground on the western side, and he survives. Katja is pregnant with his son, but Andreas does not know this yet. He only finds out later, while he is in the west. The remaining part of the mini-series takes place six years later, in 1989, the last year of the East German state. There are in fact three different story-lines here: # 1. The first line focuses on Katja, her son Sven, and her attempt to cross the border in order to be united with Andreas. While trying to escape through Hungary, she is caught by the police, but her son manages by some miracle to cross the border into the west. Katja is brought back to Germany. She is sent to prison where she is interrogated by the nasty Stasi officer Bert Schäfer. # 2. The second line focuses on Micha, his friends, and their attempt to document the struggle for freedom in East Germany. # 3. The third line focuses on Andreas, who is in the west where he conducts a campaign for human rights in the east. I do not wish to spoil the viewing for anyone. Therefore I am not going to reveal any further details about what happens to the characters of this mini-series. What do reviewers say about it? On IMDb it has a rating of 66 per cent, which corresponds to three stars on Amazon. On the German version of Amazon there are 28 reviews of this product. The average rating is 4.2 stars. If you ask me, both these average ratings are too low. The mini-series was nominated for several awards and won several of them. It won the German television award (Deutscher Fernsehpreis) 2009 in the category Best Screenplay (Silke Zertz). It also won the German television award 2009 in the category Best Actor/Actress on Television (Anja Kling). In my opinion, the prestigious awards are fully justified. This mini-series has a captivating, dramatic, and emotional story-line. The script is well-written and the actors play their roles well. I want to go all the way to the top with this product. I think it deserves a rating of five stars. PS. The struggle for freedom in East Germany and the fall of the Berlin Wall is the subject of several historical movies. Here are a few examples: ** Prager Botschaft (2007) ** Jenseits der Mauer (2009) ** Es ist nicht vorbei (2011) ** Bornholmer Strasse (2014)

Like most of these German films it doesn't have English subs so impossible to watch,shame really there missing out on a larger audience.

Very happy and good thank you 😊