NOW AND IN THE HOUR OF DEATH

Genre can also be like poetry written in shorthand. Certainly the case here: a proto political thriller on the state of the Bonn Republic, tied to the Eichmann trial in Jerusalem. Journalist Ella Conradi covered the event for West German media, with a constantly growing feeling of disgust at all that had been brought to light. Back home again, she tries to distract herself by following a seemingly run-of-the-mill case by comparison – only to soon find herself knee deep again in the next moral morass with the usual suspects from the political establishment, industry and former Nazis. The message here is the same as that propagated by many other DEFA crime films produced in “the other Germany”: namely that the FRG was ruled by the same individuals that rode Germany into ruin starting in ’33. And it was spot on.