Karbid und Sauerampfer

Filmed by the famous East German DEFA studio, this 1963 film looks back at the immediate post war life in the Soviet zone of defeated Germany in 1945. As such, political notes are not to be missed. The one American character is a stupid Army officer with incredibly ugly teeth patrolling the Elbe River in a nice little motorboat. On the other hand, a Soviet officer is a handsome, intelligent, decent man. There are ruins, but people aren't in absolute misery; they're rebuilding the future. This film does not have the despair and nihilism of the real Truemmer Filme produced in the early post war years. Geshonneck delivers an excellent character, an Anthony Quinn with a subtler touch. Despite the political touches, this is a sweet comedy, the type that keeps you smiling, not guffawing. A good film for people interested in post War Europe, even if it looks back with a telescope of almost twenty years.

Perhaps the best comedy from the East German DEFA film studios that I have ever seen. It shows the "little" odyssey of a man who travels through the country with seven barrels in the immediate post-war period of the second world war and meets numerous completely different people. The balance between humor and "showing how it was" fits. A real pleasure due to the convincing main actor Erwin Geschonneck.

The main-actor Kalle tries to get seven barrels of carbide to a factory he's employed at. While on his way from Wittenberg to Dresden he comes into several strange situations like Russian patrols who arrest him because he doesn't have legitimation papers for transporting the barrels from one allied zone to another. As he is doing the big trip without a vehicle its very difficult to complete the task, but he manages it to move along in little steps. One of the best scenes is the one where he is getting mad through the fact that he hasn't any food for days and gets the idea to collect mushrooms in a little wood. One man who walks on the road beside the wood gets almost crazy and starts yelling when he sees Kalle moving in the wood cause it's a minefield and everywhere are signs like "Danger", "Don't move", "Keep out", "Warning", etc. that Kalle didn't see. Highly recommendable movie that is suitable for all ages and shows the time after world war II without depressing the viewer.