In einem Land, das es nicht mehr gibt

No pun intended - the land that does not exist anymore. East Germany (or DDR as the Germans called it) was under quite the strict rules ... something our main character is about to find out early on. A book alone could be the trigger to conjure up trouble for anyone carrying it. There is a lot of talk nowadays about people being silenced - many use it quite wrongly, not even seeing how good they have it - not just compared to that ... land right here.

Good acting overall - and the journey of our main character is really well told. It works really well to say the least. The main actress in this seems to be hot - in the sense that she seems to be the go to choice. Which makes sense - saw her in another movie from this year, also a drama and also really well told. Dreams can come true ... though sometimes they can turn into nightmares ... what will it be in her case?

For many of its audience, life in the GDR will not have been a personal experience. For its writer and director, it is all based on personal memory, and that shows. We look back to East German history, especially the story of its very modern fashion scene with magazines like Sibylle, and forward to what freedom means in such a society and for one personally.

From the start we can feel with the characters, whether its Suzie, the girl turning model after a photographer called Coyote takes a photo of her, or Rudi, the flamboyant designer, but also the unheroic father or the boss of the fashion magazine, both of whom have arranged themselves with what it takes to live in a totalitarian state. And as cliché-ridden as that sounds, the characters are very real and believable. The journey Suzie ges on is troublesome and seems exaggerated, but shows what life in East Germany also was, without being a film focussing too much on history. Its main topic, freedom in a society that does not allow for freedom, is shown very convincingly and lets the viewer understand the characters and root for them, although the fashion scene is vastly different from what most people will have as a workplace.

Great actors (Tambea as Rudi is wonderful) plus creativity in direction and montage make this a much better film than the (incorrect) summary on imdb suggests.

Saw the film at a presentation with the director and the stylist who was the Rudi character and was moved by how accurately the film shows both their experiences with oppression and freedom within such a state. Decidedly personal (and unpolitical), it is an extremely political film, but also very moving on a personal level.