Gundermann

F Watchlist

Among the formative German directors of the last twenty years, probably no one is more affectionate with the characters and more forgiving of their weaknesses than Andreas Dresen (Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush), born in 1963. Perhaps this has to do with Dresen's youth in the GDR, where rotten–compromises with the regime were the rule rather than the exception. One of the most famous examples of such a life between resistance and collaboration is the lignite miner and soulful singer-songwriter Gerhard Gundermann (1955-1998), who on the one hand was a convinced Marxist, but as an impulsive troublemaker regularly fell out with superiors and party leaders - and after the fall of the Wall outed himself as a temporary Stasi collaborator. In his biographical feature film Pingpong, Dresen plays with scenes from the GDR and from the post-reunification period, between which lie some fifteen years and two equally gruesome pairs of glasses: On the one hand, the often stumbling young lout with the cheeky snout, who on the side courts his great love from childhood days in a seemingly lost position; on the other hand, the seasoned professional and persistent after-work musician, who faces the dark chapters of his biography first reluctantly, then with defiant determination, thus endangering old friendships and the love he has finally won. The portrayal of the contradictions lived out daily is touching - and, incidentally, dazzlingly entertaining - because the director neither glosses over them nor condemns them. And because he has found in Alexander Scheer a fabulous performer of the quirky balladeer between all the pews. Between us: Scheer's versions of the musically undemanding but punchy Gundermann hits sound almost better than in the original.

Ein Riesenbagger, der Kohle aus der Landschaft frisst: Regisseur Andreas Dresen findet für seinen widersprüchlichen Helden ikonische Bilder, die nichts Ikonisches an sich haben. Das Panorama zielt auf die innere Last von Gundermann. Dieser wird von Alexander Scheer ebenso impulsiv wie introvertiert verkörpert. Ein gewaltiges Kinoerlebnis.

Er war DDR-Liedermacher, Baggerfahrer im Braunkohlerevier, Stasi-Informant: Andreas Dresens Film über Gerhard Gundermann (Alexander Scheer) ist ein feinfühliges Biopic über eine widersprüchliche Figur. Vor allem aber ein klug erzähltes, weder verteufelndes noch verklärendes Fragment deutsch-deutscher Geschichte. Dresen kreist Gundermanns Leben umso genauer ein, weil er suchend darin herum tastet - zwischen Idealismus, Schuld, Verdrängung und dem trügerischen Wesen der Erinnerung.