Das Versprechen

5. What is Von Trotta’s primary objective: to tell a personal story about a love affair or compose a narrative essay on the history of German division?

Das Versprechen directed by Margarethe von Trotta is a love story set to the backdrop of the divided Germany beginning in 1961 up until the historic fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. The film begins with a group of youngsters, among them the main protagonists Sophie and Konrad, who are about to embark on an escape from East to West Berlin. Everything goes to plan except that Konrad does not make it thus only seeing his great love Sophie three or four times over the next twenty-eight years. The next time they meet, still young and in love, is in Prague of 1968. As they rekindle their love for each other Russian tanks move into Prague and they are again separated. After this Sophie can no longer gain access to the DDR and though she is pregnant with Konrad’s child tells him by letter that they must live their own lives. Twelve years later they finally meet again when Konrad arrives as part of an East German scientific delegat

Margarethe Von Trotta’s primary objective in this film was to tell an almost classic love story. A love story consumed by tragedy and ardour. What makes the film original and fresh is the historical context in which it is set. Incredibly, this was the first German film to deal with the issue on the German divide in any way other than the genre of documentary. The historical issues are not central to the Versprechen but rather serve to heighten the tragedy of the Konrad and Sophie’s relationship. Throughout the film Von Trotta represents the citizens of the DDR in an extremely balanced and rounded manner. There is never any hint of any form of cultural stereotyping in the way the director forms the characters. She also does not take part in any kind of anti- communist sentiment that has existed since the fall of the Berlin wall and the former Soviet Union except in her portrait of the Stasi. The Stasi are portrayed as abusing power, ruthless, misanthropic and oppressive. The Stasi and authority in general play a huge part throughout the film in terms of Konrad and Sophie’s relationship and lives. It is they, not the symbol of the wall, that keeps the couple apart and later on keeps Konrad from seeing his son Alexander after he has failed to convince his sister to join Harald in the West. In one scene after Konrads sister has been arrested for an act of protest his father is refused entry to the courtroom where the trial is taking place. To this he remarks that he was let into a family related trial “ Even during the Nazi days….” This symbolizes the way the DDR government is represented throughout the film.

Though Von Trotta’s subordinates the history of the German divide it still plays a huge part in the film. In an interview with the Goethe Institute the dire

Some topics in this essay:
Berlin Wall, Harald Konrad’s, Goethe Institute, Von Trotta’s, West Berlin, Germany Soviet, Sophie Konrad’s, Harald West, Sophie’s French, Von Trotta, berlin wall, love story, von trotta’s, son alexander, east west, fall berlin wall, throughout film, fall berlin, berlin wall 1989, margarethe von, seeing son, west harald, trotta’s primary objective, konrad sophie’s relationship, von trotta’s primary,