A film about living and working conditions in the GDR of the 1960s, including a little love story, of course.A film about living and working conditions in the GDR of the 1960s, including a little love story, of course.A film about living and working conditions in the GDR of the 1960s, including a little love story, of course.
- Awards
- 1 win
Jutta Hoffmann
- Kati Klee
- (voice)
Detlef Eisner
- Nick
- (as Detlev Eisner)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaWhile at first the film was broadly advertised in East-Germany and drew great anticipation, opposition within the Ministry of Culture (Ministerium für Kultur) grew shortly before its planned release. Posters and other advertisements were removed without further ado, and the conservative newspaper Neues Deutschland was the only one allowed to publish a review. The film's premiere (the show was sold out and Frank Bayer and the main cast were present) was disrupted by audience members shouting denounciations during the screening. The same was true for most of the screenings in Berlin and other cities. It is believed that these protests were secretly organized by the Ministry of Culture, as they resulted in the film disappearing from theaters within three days. "Spur der Steine" was classified as hostile to the party (the SED) and to East-Germany as a whole and was not screened again until October 1989.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Century of Cinema: Die Nacht der Regisseure (1995)
- SoundtracksO du Fröhliche
(uncredited)
Written by Heinrich Holzschuher and Johannes Daniel Falk
Featured review
Trace of Stones is a genuine surprise, a mid-sixties East German film which openly mocks the hypocrisies and inefficiencies of the East German economic system. The mood is set during an opening scene in which a construction site is being blown up, and when someone asks a worker what is happening he laconically responds, "The plan was wrong." The only workers who are able to get anything done are an anti-social gang led by Manfred Krug, doing an excellent Brando imitation, that systematically abuses their bosses. The craziness of the system is summarized in a lengthy Christmas gift-giving scene; I won't give away the details here-let's just say it's circular...
Not surprisingly, the film was quickly suppressed though not before the East German censor demanded numerous cuts that make some aspects of the plot nearly unintelligible. But what remains is still powerful, effective, and well worth watching.
Not surprisingly, the film was quickly suppressed though not before the East German censor demanded numerous cuts that make some aspects of the plot nearly unintelligible. But what remains is still powerful, effective, and well worth watching.
- asdfi-10004
- Jul 29, 2024
- Permalink
Details
- Runtime2 hours 19 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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