THE IMPACT OF THE WENDE is reflected more clearly in the production and reception history of Der Tangospieler than in the film itself. Horst Knietzsch’s 1990 on-set interview with Roland Gräf in Neues Deutschland, the former press organ of the Socialist Unity Party (SED), provides some context for the film’s writing and production. Gräf also speculates explicitly about the future of both Der Tangospieler and DEFA in a united Germany. Knietzsch himself was one of the most venerable—and dependably line-toeing—film critics of the old GDR. Oksana Bulgakowa’s biting condemnation in the (West) Berlin-based tageszeitung was published on the occasion of the film’s premiere at the 1991 Berlin International Film Festival. Bulgakowa directs harsh words not just at Gräf and Der Tangospieler but at DEFA, attacking the studio for its “glib and, in the end, cynical” Berlinale entry. Bulgakowa was married to a DEFA filmmaker (Dietmar Hochmuth) and cannot be treated as an outsider at the studio, but her assessment of Der Tangospieler clearly hinges on the context and expectations of the Wende. The Knietzsch/Gräf interview addresses historical events as they affect film and studio while Bulgakowa’s review faults film and studio for their role in historical events.

Horst Knietzsch

“I Don’t Know Yet If My Film Will Have a Premiere”

First published as “Ob mein Film einmal Premiere haben wird, weiß ich noch nicht” in Neues Deutschland (July 7, 1990).

Translated by Nicholas Sveholm.

Neues Deutschland Interview with Roland Gräf, Director of the DEFA film Der Tangospieler, Based on the Story by Christoph Hein

Berlin-Pankow. Bürgerpark. The last takes of the DEFA feature film Der Tangospieler. It is based on the eponymous story by Christoph Hein, which was published last year by Aufbau-Verlag. Director Roland Gräf, who also wrote the screenplay, tells the story of Dallow, a man who is put behind bars for “defamation of the state” and released in 1968.

Michael Gwisdek is cast as the film’s lead, alongside Corinna Harfouch (Elke), Hermann Beyer (Judge Berger), Peter Sodann, Peter Prager, Anne Kasprik, and Jaecki Schwarz. Cinematography is by Peter Ziesche; Production design: Alfred Hirschmeier; Music: Günther Fischer.