Taking place in East Germany just before the Wall went up (1961), this interesting but forgotten movie concentrates on the struggle of religion within a communist environment. Funded by a Christian company (Lutheran?) it shows how a Lutheran priest fights for the freedom of being able to worship God against all the communist ideologies and rules.
It makes it clear that communism overtakes all facets of every day life like school, work, sport, music etc. either by friendly methods (like the school teacher) or more forceful ways (like the Party Secretary).
Filmed on location in West Germany although near the border with the East, it comes over as well researched with a fair amount of German actors. There is no neat ending where all is resolved although when the film was released some aspects had been overtaken by the construction of the Berlin Wall.
No well known names are associated with this movie except for the director Stuart Rosenberg who went on to bigger things like Cool Hand Luke and Brubaker.
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