User Reviews

Hochhaus Geschichten is already the third TV series from the former German Democratic Republic, that I have watched on DVDs. The other ones are Dolles Familien Album and Einzug ins Paradies. In all three cases the produce proved to be quite entertaining. This one consists of seven episodes with a duration of an hour each. The contents reminds me of "Contes des quatre saisons" from Eric Römer, which I have seen on TV a decade or so ago. Both are a compilation of simple and moving love stories. In Hochhaus Geschichten these love stories are experienced by a single person, Frank Blumhagen, a young building worker. Although the love stories are simple and trivial, they contain lots of suspense (just like in Römers series). For instance, without knowing it Frank sleeps with the future wife of his boss! Wow! Nonetheless the relation with his boss becomes quite cordial. Franks final girl friend Maxi deceives him during a holiday affair, right at the start of their engagement. Etcetera. Frank is not very bright, but still manages to gain the sympathy of the observer, perhaps because he is so normal and naive. At a first glance, the stories are universal, and could have happened anywhere. Apparently love life in Bolshevism is similar to capitalist romance. However, there are some East-German characteristics. For instance, at work Frank is part of a "collective". Colleagues are supposed to share responsibilities, also for each other. Somewhat like the IMDb team, who are so kind to check my writings. And one of the episodes features a grieving woman, called Charlie, which is a special name for East-Germans. For both Karl Marx and Karl Liebknecht (murdered) were seen as the founding fathers of the new Republic. A paranoid person will translate Maxi into Marxi. The series dates from 1981, when the Republic was already well established. Therefore the overt propaganda, which is so typical for the Aufbau years, is absent. Somewhere in the seventies the Lenin euphoria waned and was transformed into social humanism. I don't know why there are just seven episodes (the last one is called The seventh heaven). Do they represent the days of the week? And one episode does not portray a love affair, but the death of a lonely old man. What does this mean? Is this symbolism? However that may be, seeing Hochhaus Geschichten certainly warns you for some of the pitfalls that loom for the eager lover.