GERMAN REUNIFICATION IN FILM: DISMANTLING THE PSYCHOLOGICAL WALL
Ann M. Keller-Lally, Ph.D.
School of Modern Languages and Cultural Studies
University of Northern Colorado
This paper compares representations of East Germany (GDR) and reunification in German film immediately after the fall of the Berlin Wall (1990-1993) and in the twenty-first century (2000-2006) to determine the extent to which Germans have overcome their separate past and reunified in contemporary German culture.
German films with East-West themes produced directly after reunification were primarily either documentaries (e.g., Countdown, 1990) to educate West Germans about life in East Germany, or comedies (e.g., Go Trabi Go, 1991), which poked fun at stereotypes. In contrast, German films of the twenty-first century depicting the former GDR or reunification are typically dramas or documentaries addressing challenges to overcoming the psychological wall that still divides East from West (e.g., Altlastpalast, 2006). Rather than accentuating differences, the more recent films have also used examples from East Germany to consider human nature in general (e.g., Das Leben der Anderen, 2006).
A comparison of these representations suggests that psychological reunification of East and West remains a challenge in contemporary Germany. The use of GDR events to consider elements common to humanity as a whole, however, suggests a move away from focusing on differences and toward a legitimization of GDR life, history and experiences.