The work that appears on this website is my own unless it has been credited to a source, such as books, magazines and interviews (including DVD commentaries) and all work on all pages of this site is subject to the copyright of Philip Powers.
The synopsis of a movie is my own work and has not be drawn from the pages of Wikipedia or IMDB but is the result of my own viewing of the material (DVD, Laser Disc), and my experience and interpretation of the film’s narrative. If the synopsis, or quotes, is taken from a reliable source, a work that appears to me to have been well-researched.
The opinions are my own and are the result of over fifty years of watching movies from countries throughout the world. If an opinion I have has been influenced, it will be credited to the person/author whose opinion influenced my thought-process.
I do not use Wikipedia as a reference for any material contained in these pages. I will never reference a Wikipedia entry. If what I have written is similar to a Wikipedia paragraph, it is coincidence. For example, I quote a lot of dialogue from films. I have transcribed that dialogue myself and in the case of subtitles, replicated the subtitles’ translation of dialogue, monologues or narration to the best of my ability. I do not draw quotes from Wikipedia or IMDB. Obviously, my rendition of dialogue, monologues and narration will at times be exactly the same as those on Wikipedia, because any individual contributor may have transcribed the words just as accurately or inaccurately as I have.
I believe Wikipedia is an incredible encyclopedia of knowledge built up by millions of people, moderated by people who try to keep it as accurate as possible to history, with a lot of information that is completely accurate. However, many pages of Wikipedia contain mistakes (some large, and some very, very small) because anyone (anywhere) can enter anything as if it is an actual fact. For example, through hearsay, from one person’s memory of what they think is a true fact, it may not be an accurate fact. Even words written down in autobiographies and commentaries and interviews are not necessarily accurate memories or interpretations of what really happened by the people who claims their words as facts. There are also plenty of poorly researched books which present facts which are wrong and numerous other sources may contradict that one source, but that one particular source may be the supposed fact, which is contained in a Wikipedia entry.
It is important to remember that facts are what it is possible to prove with evidence. What many people see as facts are in fact memories or opinions.
When I quote from another source, I will give the reference to the author, page and publication it came from, without being responsible for the accuracy of the author’s own research (which may be wrong or have omitted some facts). For this reason, I also don’t quote from IMDB because anyone (anywhere) can contribute something full of errors, or entirely correct except for one small error.
IMDB is one of the most incredible databases but is full of thousands upon thousands of errors. For instance, I contributed a synopsis entry for the little-seen film, Das kaninchen bin ich (1965). The film has only 253 votes. I was the 252nd and someone after me has contributed another vote. I saw the film in April, 2017, at a film course run by David Stratton with about 100 other people. I saw the film once, made notes, and turned them into a synopsis. As the IMDB didn’t have a synopsis I contributed my own, which is the full summary on the IMDB.
For that reason, I would not quote from that full summary of Das kaninchen bin ich (1965) even though it is mine and I wrote it. It probably has some errors in it, I did my best, but I did draw the names of some characters from the IMDB database, if the spelling wasn’t referred to in the films’ subtitles, which also may contain errors.
– Philip Powers 20 April, 2018
That entry is correct to the best of my ability from one viewing in a theatre without the ability to check whether I made errors.
© Philip Powers 20 April 2018
Philip Powers IMDB summary of Das kaninchen bin ich (1965).
Maria Morzcek (Angelika Waller) lives in East Germany with her Aunt Hete (Ilse Voigt). Maria narrates a lot of the story. Recently, her brother, Dieter (Wolfgang Winkler), has been jailed for three years for subversive behavior and she’s been seduced by her gym teacher at school. The school principal tries to get her to condemn her brother’s behavior. She refuses. After finishing school she is rejected by the university she applied to enter and becomes a waitress. By chance, at a concert, she meets the judge responsible for her brother’s sentencing. He is attracted to her and pursues her until they become lovers. At first she had no idea who he was but during a visit to her brother, Dieter, in prison she learned the name of the judge was Paul Deister (Alfred Müller).
He is pleasant middle-aged man who courts her and wins her affection and they begin an affair. When she is diagnosed with Spondylitis, requiring six months rest in a warm climate, he offers her the unrestricted use of his holiday home. He visits her on Sundays and Mondays and they make love. He also asks her to do some translations of Russian files he is working on, which he pays her for, making her feel more like his equal. She also gets a job as a waitress in a local bar. She tries to petition the court for Dieter to be pardoned but she recognizes it is beyond her capabilities and knowledge.
Deister learns of the connection between them and is furious, thinking she is trying to manipulate him, when it is has been quite the reverse. A wedge begins to separate them. Despite everything, they are in love, and the relationship survives a few months of building tension and frustration. In the town where Maria now lives, a man’s body is found in the lake. One of the searchers, Grambow (Rudolf Ulrich), in a drunken moment, denounces the German Democratic Republic when he reveals in a public bar that the dead man was a non-commissioned officer. He compares the importance of a commissioned officer with the dead man and denounces the elitist attitude towards working class people, who were the people who enlisted and earned their rank, and those who feel entitled. Deister witnesses the situation and defuses. As a hard-liner he believes it requires the full penalty the law can adjudicate. The local Mayor (Helmut Schellhardt) tries to reason with Deister about the level at which the offense should be regarded.
A local court is convened and evidence is heard, including testimony from Maria, but she and the town refuse to condemn Grambow. He is let off with a suspended sentence of 90-days compared with the three-years that Dieter received for a similar offense. This leniency incenses Maria and causes the divide, between Paul’s beliefs and her experience, to widen.
One day a car pulls up at the house in the country. She expects Paul but it is Deister’s wife, Gabriele (Irma Münch). She’s quite restrained in her manner as she meets the 19-year old mistress, and Maria learns that Judge Deister tried to commit suicide recently, but failed. It appears that the relationship is over until Deister runs into Maria again and attempts to win her back by showing that he has listened to what she has said to him and changed. He tells her, “A new wind is blowing.” He’s willing to write to the court regarding Dieter, to get him an early release. Maria realizes that he’s actually looking to service his own career yet again by going with the popular belief, of a judicial system that should now show more compassion and be more lenient in sentencing. She tears his letter up and ends the relationship.
When Dieter is released from prison he learns that Maria had an affair with the judge who sentenced him. He beats her. She recovers from the beating and resolves to move out of her Aunt’s flat and make her own way in the world. She will work as a waitress as long as she needs to. Rejected from studying at a university she will try to be responsible for her own progress, using her Russian-language skills to get a position as an interpreter. She is wiser and a more mature nineteen-year old than less than a year before. There’s a determination in every step she takes to show she will make something of herself and stand up for herself. She won’t be pushed around anymore, by Deiter or Diester, or anyone.
Maria Morzcek (Angelika Waller) lives in East Germany with her Aunt Hete (Ilse Voigt). Maria narrates a lot of the story. Recently, her brother, Dieter (Wolfgang Winkler), has been jailed for three years for subversive behavior and she’s been seduced by her gym teacher at school. The school principal tries to get her to condemn her brother’s behavior. She refuses. After finishing school she is rejected by the university she applied to enter and becomes a waitress. By chance, at a concert, she meets the judge responsible for her brother’s sentencing. He is attracted to her and pursues her until they become lovers. At first she had no idea who he was but during a visit to her brother, Dieter, in prison she learned the name of the judge was Paul Deister (Alfred Müller).
He is pleasant middle-aged man who courts her and wins her affection and they begin an affair. When she is diagnosed with Spondylitis, requiring six months rest in a warm climate, he offers her the unrestricted use of his holiday home. He visits her on Sundays and Mondays and they make love. He also asks her to do some translations of Russian files he is working on, which he pays her for, making her feel more like his equal. She also gets a job as a waitress in a local bar. She tries to petition the court for Dieter to be pardoned but she recognizes it is beyond her capabilities and knowledge.
Deister learns of the connection between them and is furious, thinking she is trying to manipulate him, when it is has been quite the reverse. A wedge begins to separate them. Despite everything, they are in love, and the relationship survives a few months of building tension and frustration. In the town where Maria now lives, a man’s body is found in the lake. One of the searchers, Grambow (Rudolf Ulrich), in a drunken moment, denounces the German Democratic Republic when he reveals in a public bar that the dead man was a non-commissioned officer. He compares the importance of a commissioned officer with the dead man and denounces the elitist attitude towards working class people, who were the people who enlisted and earned their rank, and those who feel entitled. Deister witnesses the situation and defuses. As a hard-liner he believes it requires the full penalty the law can adjudicate. The local Mayor (Helmut Schellhardt) tries to reason with Deister about the level at which the offense should be regarded.
A local court is convened and evidence is heard, including testimony from Maria, but she and the town refuse to condemn Grambow. He is let off with a suspended sentence of 90-days compared with the three-years that Dieter received for a similar offense. This leniency incenses Maria and causes the divide, between Paul’s beliefs and her experience, to widen.
One day a car pulls up at the house in the country. She expects Paul but it is Deister’s wife, Gabriele (Irma Münch). She’s quite restrained in her manner as she meets the 19-year old mistress, and Maria learns that Judge Deister tried to commit suicide recently, but failed. It appears that the relationship is over until Deister runs into Maria again and attempts to win her back by showing that he has listened to what she has said to him and changed. He tells her, “A new wind is blowing.” He’s willing to write to the court regarding Dieter, to get him an early release. Maria realizes that he’s actually looking to service his own career yet again by going with the popular belief, of a judicial system that should now show more compassion and be more lenient in sentencing. She tears his letter up and ends the relationship.
When Dieter is released from prison he learns that Maria had an affair with the judge who sentenced him. He beats her. She recovers from the beating and resolves to move out of her Aunt’s flat and make her own way in the world. She will work as a waitress as long as she needs to. Rejected from studying at a university she will try to be responsible for her own progress, using her Russian-language skills to get a position as an interpreter. She is wiser and a more mature nineteen-year old than less than a year before. There’s a determination in every step she takes to show she will make something of herself and stand up for herself. She won’t be pushed around anymore, by Deiter or Diester, or anyone.
Maria Morzcek (Angelika Waller) lives in East Germany with her Aunt Hete (Ilse Voigt). Maria narrates a lot of the story. Recently, her brother, Dieter (Wolfgang Winkler), has been jailed for three years for subversive behavior and she’s been seduced by her gym teacher at school. The school principal tries to get her to condemn her brother’s behavior. She refuses. After finishing school she is rejected by the university she applied to enter and becomes a waitress. By chance, at a concert, she meets the judge responsible for her brother’s sentencing. He is attracted to her and pursues her until they become lovers. At first she had no idea who he was but during a visit to her brother, Dieter, in prison she learned the name of the judge was Paul Deister (Alfred Müller).
He is pleasant middle-aged man who courts her and wins her affection and they begin an affair. When she is diagnosed with Spondylitis, requiring six months rest in a warm climate, he offers her the unrestricted use of his holiday home. He visits her on Sundays and Mondays and they make love. He also asks her to do some translations of Russian files he is working on, which he pays her for, making her feel more like his equal. She also gets a job as a waitress in a local bar. She tries to petition the court for Dieter to be pardoned but she recognizes it is beyond her capabilities and knowledge.
Deister learns of the connection between them and is furious, thinking she is trying to manipulate him, when it is has been quite the reverse. A wedge begins to separate them. Despite everything, they are in love, and the relationship survives a few months of building tension and frustration. In the town where Maria now lives, a man’s body is found in the lake. One of the searchers, Grambow (Rudolf Ulrich), in a drunken moment, denounces the German Democratic Republic when he reveals in a public bar that the dead man was a non-commissioned officer. He compares the importance of a commissioned officer with the dead man and denounces the elitist attitude towards working class people, who were the people who enlisted and earned their rank, and those who feel entitled. Deister witnesses the situation and defuses. As a hard-liner he believes it requires the full penalty the law can adjudicate. The local Mayor (Helmut Schellhardt) tries to reason with Deister about the level at which the offense should be regarded.
A local court is convened and evidence is heard, including testimony from Maria, but she and the town refuse to condemn Grambow. He is let off with a suspended sentence of 90-days compared with the three-years that Dieter received for a similar offense. This leniency incenses Maria and causes the divide, between Paul’s beliefs and her experience, to widen.
One day a car pulls up at the house in the country. She expects Paul but it is Deister’s wife, Gabriele (Irma Münch). She’s quite restrained in her manner as she meets the 19-year old mistress, and Maria learns that Judge Deister tried to commit suicide recently, but failed. It appears that the relationship is over until Deister runs into Maria again and attempts to win her back by showing that he has listened to what she has said to him and changed. He tells her, “A new wind is blowing.” He’s willing to write to the court regarding Dieter, to get him an early release. Maria realizes that he’s actually looking to service his own career yet again by going with the popular belief, of a judicial system that should now show more compassion and be more lenient in sentencing. She tears his letter up and ends the relationship.
When Dieter is released from prison he learns that Maria had an affair with the judge who sentenced him. He beats her. She recovers from the beating and resolves to move out of her Aunt’s flat and make her own way in the world. She will work as a waitress as long as she needs to. Rejected from studying at a university she will try to be responsible for her own progress, using her Russian-language skills to get a position as an interpreter. She is wiser and a more mature nineteen-year old than less than a year before. There’s a determination in every step she takes to show she will make something of herself and stand up for herself. She won’t be pushed around anymore, by Deiter or Diester, or anyone.
– written by Philip Powers