West (2013) User Reviews

East vs. West

[kosmasp · 7/10 · 26 January 2015]

A document of a time passed by. And while I don't think this feels to dated (if you let yourself into the mood and time when the movie playing), you will like what you see. It's a story about people trying to survive, while being confronted by politics and paranoia. It isn't (or rather wasn't easy) to live like this. Even harder to survive when you try to stay in the middle.

While some might argue that this feels like a movie of the week type, I'd disagree. It might have a story line that is close to that, but the acting and the framing, lighting and everything else point out that this is more than that. If you like your drama to feel as real as possible (with touches of a thriller), here you go

West is best?

[tao902 · 7/10 · 27 April 2015]

A drama about a mother and son who manage to emigrate from East Germany to West Germany during the era of the Cold War. The transition is complicated by the ongoing requirements of the immigration centre in order to obtain West German citizenship. Further complications arise as her son's father, who they believed dead from an accident in the Soviet Union, is suspected by Western secret services of being alive and having been a Stasi agent. The mother moves inexorably towards paranoia as she becomes unsure of who she can actually trust.

The film captures the atmosphere of the period through incidents, detail and setting. However, at times the film appears a little too concerned with appealing to a potentially broad audience through intrigue, romance and melodrama; understandable but perhaps occasionally unfortunate.

Another solid GDR/FRG movie

[Horst_In_Translation · 6/10 · 18 August 2014]

When I watched this film, it was titled "Westen" (The West), but it looks like they're going with "Lagerfeuer" (Campfire) now. Anyway, based on a novel this movie was written by Heide Schwochnow and directed by her son Christian, a true family project not too common in the world of modern movie-making. For those two, it's already their fourth project together.

Jördis Triebel won the German Film Award for Best Lead Actress here and while I liked her performance, I have to say I thought Juliane Köhler would have been my choice. My favorite performance in "Lagerfeuer" comes from Alexander Scheer who some of you might know from "Sonnenallee". He plays the love interest to Triebel's character here and so does Jacky Ido ("Inglourious Basterds"), who to some extent represents the main character's arrival in the west. Scheer on the other hand, stands for her roots in the East. There is no real solution which path Triebel's character chooses, although a lot links to Scheer.

All in all, it's an okay movie, doing justice to the whole GDR topic including an interesting part about all the different stamps you need to become a FRG citizen, but also bringing nothing really new to a table that has been laid uncountable times. Tristan Göbel shows that he is one of the more talented child actors Germany currently has and his character included some interesting references such as his scarf or the way school looked like back then in general. What I also liked about the movie is that there is no solution too the boy's father's disappearance. It's just not all black and white.

Finally, I think the film is worth a watch for those who are interested in the whole East/West Germany conflict or just like movies centered around strong female characters. All others can skip.

The Way We Lived Then

[writers_reign · 7/10 · 24 June 2015]

In one respect of course this is yet another aspect of The Lives Of Others with a nod to Goodbye, Lenin but after all that it is another fine effort from German cinema. Once you get past the major problems - how is Nelly supporting herself and her son in the West. Towards the very end she announces to her son that she has finally landed a job - she is coy about what KIND of job, how much it pays, indeed ANYTHING - but prior to that she has managed to change outfits several times and outfits that appear to be expensive, and feed both herself and her son to say nothing of paying the rent> Like I said, get beyond this and we're talking half-decent movie and whilst it doesn't hurt one little bit that the lead actress has a strong resemblance to Ingrid Bergman neither does she need to rely on looks to get by. All in all a decent film with a great leading performance and strong supporting roles.

Reunification Consideration

[georgewilliamnoble · 7/10 · 5 August 2015]

I am of such a age that i saw the cold war espionage thriller The Spy Who Came In From The Cold and as i remember it a BAFTA winning film with Richard Burton from 1966 when that film first came out and the nuclear cloud of the cold war was very much alive. Back then i doubt if i thought the two Germany's would ever be united again. I went to see West expecting a modern update drama full of dubious espionage the film wrong footed me so successfully that it must of been 85% through its running time before the penny dropped on me that i was watching a socially conscious movie examining the personal pain of Germany's enforced post World War 2 split. I really liked this movie which was slow and careful, superbly acted and written and directed with a studied coldness, i also thought it explained itself very well with modest little history lessons that never seemed to preach or to lecture. In short a rewarding alternative to my normal diet of factory Hollywood.

A good insight into post war Germany.

[allyatherton · 7/10 · 13 December 2015]

A woman escapes East Germany with her child.

Starring Jordis Triebel, Tristan Gobel and Alexander Scheer.

Written by Heide Schwochow (screenplay) and Julia Franck (Novel).

Directed by Christian Schwochow.

I seem to be on a bit of a run of late for watching foreign subtitled films.

This German movie is left of centre, quirky and quite well acted. It's also a good insight into how things were on either side of the Berlin wall post war. It just about kept my interest although it lacks a little excitement. There's not a lot of suspense and it didn't exactly have me on the edge of my seat.

It's interesting but easily forgettable. Not exactly a yawn fest but lacked any real entertainment value.

7/10

Brilliant, German, period refugee story

[t-dooley-69-386916 · 8/10 · 5 October 2015]

In 1975 Nelly's husband left her for a business trip – he never came back from Russia. We pick up the story three years later when she and her young son Alexej are given permission by the DDR – German Democratic Republic - to emigrate to the West. Original title of this German film is 'Westen' and it is in both German and English with good sub titles).

Once she gets to the 'Promised Land' she discovers that things are not as rosy as she had been informed. This is her story. There is a lot more to it than above and it is timely for a release at the moment to show how attitudes were then to refuges and how, sadly, little has really changed.

The period detail is excellent; the acting is great with Jördis Triebel as Nelly doing a performance that will guarantee future work offers. The issues that are dealt with are done in a way to show the human cost of prejudicial and judgmental attitudes, but there is a lot of love here too. This is one of those films that when it is over it will leave you wanting more – an easy one to recommend.

Warum?

[stuka24 · 5/10 · 14 September 2014]

I tried to like this film but could never get into it, the plot is unbelievable, at it rests on Nelly's character, that changes her mind and follows a logic of her own.

Art direction is good, and actors do what they can with a story full of clichés, from the sexy "damsel in distress" to the bullied son, the love affair that makes no sense and ends as abruptly as it started, the friend who is always there and is taken for granted, the cool and also pretty neighbour who plays Bach but is reduced to being a cook and mistreated at it, her father who is a bit nuts but not really dangerous so we have to like him too, the ugly STASI female doctors, dumb looking officials- funny looking clothing-, menacing everything for we are supposed to empathize with Nelly who is being driven crazy by the German bureaucratic system.

Sorry, it didn't work for me.

Some people left at the showing here in BA, and I do understand it. The ending was a monument for cheesiness.

The movie pretends to make us feel empathy x Nelly while using many Hollywood tricks like "mom-son having a good time", "Christmas making characters take the big decision", "overqualified Eastern Germans being reduced to menial jobs because of ...?", and the list could go on. Maybe I expected a good European film but got an average TV movie that looks like those manufactured for Hallmark channel and the like, only this was spoken in German.

I do hope other people can see nicer things in this film, I sincerely couldn't. I wouldn't watch it.

The institution of trust

[paul2001sw-1 · 9/10 · 10 December 2015]

As it's name suggests, Christian Schwochow's 'West' is a film about the West, but also the East: specifically, about cold-war Germany. Its central protagonist, wonderfully played by the beautiful Joerdis Triebel, is a somewhat arrogant east German who, on crossing the iron curtain, struggles to cope with the demands made of an unconnected immigrant in a strange country; but who also struggles with the legacy of her past. The film neither glosses over the evils of the eastern regime, nor suggests that life in the west is a simple panacea; above all else, it demonstrates the fatal way that police states damage the institution of trust in a way that cannot easily be repaired. The ambiguous figure of a rumoured informer provides a focus for a powerful story that is ultimately more about people than systems.

Insightful look into the emigration experience

[g-philip-rogers · 8/10 · 12 October 2014]

As others have observed about this film, the idea of a woman who seeks to make a new life for herself (and her son), yet finds it difficult to do so, is territory that has been explored before. And, for people who are familiar with German-language films in general, the ideas explored in this film probably seem very familiar indeed.

Speaking as a person who has not seen a significant number of German-language films, I found myself very engaged with this story from start to finish. One of the aspects of this story that I think others might connect with as well, especially for anyone who has ever gone to live in another country for a significant length of time, is how difficult it can be to overcome the many obstacles that exist, some of which are placed in front of you by the government of your new country. Thus of the many challenges that our protagonist has to overcome, seeing how a government official often has to place a stamp in a document to get past them may be all too familiar (and painful) to many of us, regardless of what country we might have gone to live in.

Some of the other obstacles put in the way of Nelly in her quest to build a new life will also be very familiar to many, for instance, how the fact that she has an advanced degree, and how her experience with doing research in a lab setting, is looked at as far below the standards of her new country (whereas in all likelihood, she would be more than qualified to do the work in West Germany, just as she had been in East Germany). I suspect that if she had been a man rather than a woman, she might have gotten more favorable treatment -- but that is a topic for another day, and for other films!

One of the most important parts of the story has to do with the extent to which Nelly's paranoia gradually increases as time goes by, fueled in no small part by what she is led to believe by the character John Bird. As others have observed (and likely will continue to observe), the way their relationship plays out is one of the less satisfying aspects of this film, and even though I have not read the book, what I've heard from others leads me to believe that John Bird's character in the film is not developed to nearly the extent that it could have been.

I found the most fascinating character in the film to be Hans, who is one of the other residents in the government housing complex with Nelly and her son, Alexej. (On a side note, I would say that there are three characters that are particularly well-developed and well- acted, specifically, Alexej, Nelly, and Hans.) In Hans, we have a character whose past is largely unknown to us, and it is through his character that we come to understand to what extent xenophobia is rampant throughout this housing complex, in that he is widely viewed as a Stasi informant. We at first only suspect as much based on dismissive glances in his direction, and ultimately find confirmation that this is the case when he is brutally beaten. It is this type of dynamic, and how it was expressed, that I found to be one of the most insightful aspects of this film.

The centerpiece of the film, and in my view its most powerful aspect, is how the relationship between mother and son evolves as they react to their new environment. With Alexej, we observe a very natural inclination to want to spend time with Hans, especially as Nelly's paranoia grows ever stronger, which erodes her relationship with her son. And, Nelly too succumbs to the temptation to paint Hans with the same broad brush as everyone else (other than Alexej). I would say this difference in perspective, between mother and son, on their experiences in their new country, is expressed in a very profound way, and we are left to wonder how it will impact their relationship after the credits roll.

"....A beautiful film indeed, along with lovely warm and cold tones of colours that alternatively reflect moments of liberation, and of fear...."

[gwest-07331 · 9/10 · 13 May 2021]

An atmosphere of cold fear moves across the border of East Berlin as a mother and her child flee to West Germany in search of freedom: The present day film is set in 1978. ( -The film though, will open to a fleeting and touching reference to a happier scene with husband, wife and child -3 years earlier. )

In 1978, the process of Western citizenship will take 12 days of rubber stamping of authorization as the mother and her child are interned into a community camp for refuges.

From the unrestricted freedom of the Western camp, the mother attends interviews with the American immigration officers, while her child attends the community school. Two Immigration officers quiz the mother to establish why she chose to escape from East Germany - but all is not clear in her reasoning as we learn to discover that her husband may have died in an uncertain death?

This is a beautiful film that draws interest of storytelling in episodes - one with an Immigration Officer; another with a fellow interned refuge; and then of course - with her child, and then again with the daily life of the community camp - until her application has been completed.

A beautiful film indeed, along with lovely warm and cold tones of colours that alternatively reflect moments of liberation, and of fear: Paranoia will underline the tone of the film. The filming itself is remarkable and fresh; subtle, but in sharpness, sometimes in angled shots of street level in autumnal season.

I love this film to its attention to cinematic detail - the bright and low lighting - the tones of the colours - it is a great artistic achievement by film director, Christian Schwochow. The acting is not stilted, nor is it unnatural to the uneasy atmosphere of apprehension: It is as though freedom itself cannot be defined between the East and the West (- the West which seems to mirror the Soviet East?)

Again, an absorbing film, but with highly charged outbreaks of emotion from repressive souls: Only the mother will understand how to seek happiness in the true sense of freedom of liberation?

An outstanding film of which I highly recommend and enjoyed, and a terrific performance by Jordis Triebel -the film later reminded me of a classic film entitled,' Fear Eats The Soul.' The film ends with a very upbeat jazz score by Marion Black -entitled, 'Who Knows?' ( cert.15 )

A cold welcome to a new life

[markmuhl · 9/10 · 25 May 2020]

A good movie about an interesting aspect of German history. Did you know about the existence of West German refugee transit camps during the period of cold war, which had the assignment of receiving and processing East German immigrants? Well, I did not. Dated in the 1970's, the movie allows us to follow a young mother and her son into the camp of Marienfelde in West Berlin after she managed to cross the border by means of a West German pretend husband.

There however, her high hopes for a better future in the West are confronted with a system of bureaucracy and distrust, since according to secret service any immigrant could as well be an East German spy. Nelly is especially suspicious for having been a member of the East German Academy of Sciences and for the father of her boy being a Russian who disappeared mysteriously.

Altogether, it is a coherent story with a good mix of characters. We get to know short term acquaintances like a Russian speaking girl who makes friend with Nelly's little boy Alexej. When leaving the camp with her family she also disappears from the story. This gives a good example of typical transit camp life where people come and go all the time.

It is also the camera work, which supports the feeling to be effectively part of the camp life. It often does so by showing the protagonists behind some fuzzy object in the foreground. The good acting also must not be disregarded. Next to award winning leading actress Jördis Triebel I would like to mention the flawless performance of Alexander Scheer, who gives the mysterious character of a former East German dissident, who seems to be stuck in the camp forever.

Memorable also the scene, in which Nelly seduces the American secret service officer into sex with her. When finding out in bed that all the humiliating interrogations about her Russian ex-boyfriend being a spy are only based on speculation, she turns the balance of power upside down and drops the guy. Good girl.

Some user comments suggest that the story may not be completely correct from a historical point of view. Oh well, I prefer to see the movie as a general metaphor about the clash of hopes and reservations, that immigrants have to face in their new homelands. Despite its indicated happy end, the movie clearly suggests that the outcome of this conflict is rather open.