Review by asdfi-10004

Trace of Stones is a genuine surprise, a mid-sixties East German film which openly mocks the hypocrisies and inefficiencies of the East German economic system. The mood is set during an opening scene in which a construction site is being blown up, and when someone asks a worker what is happening he laconically responds, "The plan was wrong." The only workers who are able to get anything done are an anti-social gang led by Manfred Krug, doing an excellent Brando imitation, that systematically abuses their bosses. The craziness of the system is summarized in a lengthy Christmas gift-giving scene; I won't give away the details here-let's just say it's circular...

Not surprisingly, the film was quickly suppressed though not before the East German censor demanded numerous cuts that make some aspects of the plot nearly unintelligible. But what remains is still powerful, effective, and well worth watching.