FOLLOWING IN THE FOOTSTEPS of his popular earlier film Ete und Ali (Ete and Ali, GDR 1985), Peter Kahane once again presents a coming-of-age story in Vorspiel, this time in the form of idealistic youths eager to discover where life beyond their small town will take them. Vorspiel was well received in both the East and the West; this is demonstrated in the translations below of Heinz Kersten’s review from Der Tagesspiegel (read at the time particularly by West Berliners) and Hans Braunseis’s review from Der Morgen (which served as a voice for the Liberal Democratic Party of Germany). Despite the East-West loyalties of the news outlets, both reviewers respond enthusiastically to Kahane’s film. Braunseis may offer hints of criticism toward DEFA in general, but embraces Vorspiel. Kersten maintains an objective tone through use of statistics, but nonetheless allows some warmth to shine through this more factual approach. The reviews also address a common concern: the film’s young target demographic. As one of the few West German critics to review DEFA films regularly, Kersten notes that fourteen- to twenty-six-year-olds comprise almost 80 percent of the filmgoers in the East, while Braunseis writes that Kahane wants Vorspiel to appeal to sixteen-year-olds, although DEFA produces very few films expressly for this age group. The title Vorspiel can be understood in various ways in this coming-of-age context: as a prelude, as foreplay, or as a performance; it takes on different meanings as this story of young love and disappointment unfolds.

Hans Braunseis

Successful Vorspiel

First published as “Gelungenes‘Vorspiel’” in Der Morgen (November

21, 1987).

Translated by Anne Jost-Fritz.

Peter Kahane’s DEFA Film Hits the Right Note with Youth

The director Peter Kahane, now in his late thirties, is still considered a young man among the up-and-coming filmmakers. This must be because the wheels of DEFA turn somewhat more slowly than a lifetime allows. At least since Ete und Ali, Kahane has been considered an open secret, the insider’s tip for successful movies that aren’t just good in the usual sense, but that are also well received by the public.

We, too, singled out Ete und Ali from the otherwise compulsory domestic theatrical releases with—perhaps a bit pointed—enthusiasm.