This movie was shown recently in the middle of the night and I must say it was the perfect time of day for viewing. It is a rather gritty piece with a hopeful ending and some truly funny episodes like the one where at the turn of the 21st century the main character's friend reads the description of an East German seaside resort from a travel book that had been printed in the communist era - probably the same volume my family used during our visits to the DDR only to get hopelessly lost every time we tried to use the maps...
While not much happens in this film somehow it still manages to firmly glue you to the screen. I was a bit confused about the job Maria holds, not that it really mattered in the bigger scheme of things, the gloomy, closed-in atmosphere of a seaside resort in the middle of off season was perfectly conveyed.
Unfortunately the sound quality of the copy I saw was pretty bad to the point of me missing some of the dialogue. Still, this is certainly a movie I would watch again.
