In 1953 Wolfgang Koeppen wrote a novel about a fictive member of the then young German parliament who resisted the Adenauer politics concerning the rearmament and the East-West policy, and the political corruption already present in the young democracy. It became a hit and a classic.
This clever retelling of the novel is done as documentary annex feature film and contains an interview with the writer and historic newsreel footage to enhance the story; moreover, in trying to do more than retelling the story the film maker links the original story up with (late 1980's) political events, trying to show that not much has changed over the years. The whole endeavour is interesting viewing, very literary (part of the story is told by a voice-over), though not easy to get involved with and certainly not for every taste; the link up with the 1980's is not very convincing and maybe too simple. The film is quiet, sympathetic, but should have been less cerebral. Some of the acting is no more than average.
For a big part the film's atmosphere depends on the very good use of Richard Wagner's music from "Das Rheingold".
