The Architects (Die Architekten, 1990)
Picture: B-
Sound: C+ Extras: C+ Film: B-
As East Germany and the East Bloc of diehard Communism was
beginning to fall, Peter Kahane’s The Architects arrived in time in
1990. Daniel Brenner (Kurt Naumann) is
in his 30s and has never had a big assignment to build anything. With his marriage in some trouble, he gets
what he hoped is a breakthrough assignment, but the coldness and bureaucracy
that is East Berlin will freeze up this thaw sooner than he thinks. How will he handle it?
He loves his family and the film suggests maybe he is a
bit more distracted by them than he should be if he wants to achieve his dream,
but it is hard to dream in a police state.
The film spends most of its time showing how slowly any hope of a better
future unravels for Daniel, who is a good guy and talent not being given the
chance he deserves. He would have
trouble in Capitalist America today, so imagine how much worse it was there.
The actors are good, the editing is decent and the
screenplay by Thomas Knauf and director Kahane has something new to offer all
the time. However, melodrama about the
family shows up in spots where we should be learning more about East Germany
and construction, while the family sections are predictable. Otherwise, it is worth a look; though watch
out for those sappy patches.
The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is pretty good,
as shot by Andreas Kofer. Composition
is tight and shows the city to good effect.
The Dolby Digital 2.0 is Mono, but one can tell it is a recent
recording. Tomas Kahane’s score is
minimal, but works well when it surfaces.
This makes for an interesting combination, where one keeps waiting for
stereo to kick in. Extras include a
text introduction on the film, a short DEFA Studio film on the director, a
separate interview with him, audio interview of Judith Richter in German,
Q&A section with writer Knauf, Bablesberg – Faces Of A City has five
text pages, another stills section, bio/filmography text on cast and crew, set
design sketches, an original theatrical trailer for this film and text on
Icestorm.
- Nicholas Sheffo
