The Legend of Rita
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Legend of Rita | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Volker Schlöndorff |
| Produced by | Arthur Hofer Emmo Lempert Friedrich-Carl Wachs |
| Written by | Wolfgang Kohlhaase Volker Schlöndorff |
| Starring | *Bibiana Beglau: Rita Vogt
|
| Release date(s) | 2000 |
| Running time | 95 min. |
| Language | German |
The Legend of Rita (German Die Stille nach dem Schuss--The Silence after the Shot) is a 2000 German film about the exiled armed German left-wing terrorists (Red Army Faction, 2nd of June Movement) of the GDR.
[edit] Plot
After a brief overview of the initial bank robberies of the 2nd of June Movement with the distribution of chocolate kisses as well as a disastrous prison break at the Westberliner Prison, the group flees, via the Friedrichstraße train station, into the GDR. There they receive an offer from the state security officer, Erwin Hull, to remain in the GDR. The friendly Stasi then offers to create a new identity for them, so that they can start a new life in the East. While the two women, Rita Vogt and Friederike Adebach accept the offer, the men decide to go on fighting the battle against the imperialist system with armed force. Later, they are seen being killed during their next attack. Hull's (platonic) relationship with Rita, as her control officer, a friend, and an adviser, occupies a large place in the film.
The film then concentrates on Rita's new life. Despite the privations of the GDR, for Rita it has a romantic aura that contrasts with the beginning and end of the film. Many motifs in the script reflect Inge Viett's real life. She is given a job at a Volkseigener Betrieb clothing factory. There she appalls her colleagues, because unlike them, for example, Rita takes solidarity collections for projects in third world countries seriously. Her political idealism is dismissed as naive and troublesome. She is unpopular, though she finds sympathy from another outsider, the troubled co-worker Tatjana. The two outcasts develop a mutual friendship quickly that begins to resemble an intimate relationship. Through a television announcement from West Germany, a co-worker recognizes and reports Rita Vogt. The state security officers promptly remove her, allowing her only a brief, painful parting from Tatjana.
Her next residence and workplace is a children's day care center. While on vacation by the Baltic Sea, she gets to know and falls in love with a student, Jochen. Despite her cautiousness, it becomes ever more difficult for her to maintain her façade and hide her past. Shortly before her decision to travel with him to the USSR, she reveals her tale to him. She meets by chance Friederike Adebach (inspired by Susanne Albrecht), who is sufferung under her new identity, which she bears with resignation. In 1989/90 the GDR collapses and it is only a question of time before Rita's legend is exposed. During an escape attempt in front of a checkpoint, she is mortally wounded.
[edit] External links
- film facts at filmportal.de
