"Der geteilte Himmel" or "The Divided Heaven" is an East German movie that had its 50th anniversary two years ago. It was directed by CKonrad Wolf who also helped in adapting Christa Wolf's novel for the screen here. And there were many more writers working here, which is usually disappointing me if so many people work on a script and when it has such obvious flaws nonetheless. Too many cooks spoil the broth, at least in this case here. With that being said, I don't think this was a terrible film by any means. I think the political context is working well for the most part and makes it interesting on some occasions, but it just wasn't enough for a film that runs for almost 2 hours. The movie is also in black-and-white, even if by 1964 there were still many color films being produced everywhere around the world, but looking at other works from the country too, this was not yet the case for the GDR. The only cast member in the film I am familiar with looking at the names is Hilmar Thate. But even he was fairly forgettable. Same also goes for Renate Blume who did not do too much for me as the one playing the central character of the film. this may have worked better with a more gifted actress. But the worst thing that is pretty much a deal breaker for the negative side here is the dialogs. It was really cringeworthy to listen to the way they were talking. It all sounded so scripted and fake and never felt authentic in a way people would actually talk, even worse than in some Fassbinder films. This also almost destroyed the entire viewing experience for me. And the few positive factors simply weren't enough in terms of quality or quantity to outweigh the bad. I do not recommend the watch. Thumbs down and unfortunately to me this film is another piece of evidence how the GDR was never a great country in terms of filmmaking as this one is considered by many as one of the best films from the country. A sad state of affairs, that is.
Review of The Divided Heaven
