Die Legende von Paul und Paula

Paula lives with her two children in a prefabricated housing estate in Berlin and dreams of a fulfilling life beyond routine and conformity. Paul, on the other hand, is married, conformist – a functionary, in short. When their paths cross, a love story begins that tears them both away from their everyday lives – and battles against expectations and doubts. The melodramatic intensity, coupled with the poetic imagery and the music of the Puhdys (“Wenn ein Mensch kurze Zeit lebt”), quickly achieved a cult status that endures to this day, to which the unusually candid portrayal of individual life choices within socialist everyday life also contributes. Rarely does popular entertainment connect so directly with the existential question of freedom and happiness as it does here. Still beautiful, time and again!
(Florian Widegger)