From my point of view "Der Rote Kakadu" is a missed chance. Earlier this year I saw Henckel von Donnersmarck's "Das Leben der Anderen", a film that also deals with the DDR. There is one main reason, why "Der Rote Kakadu" isn't reaching the impact of this film: The characters. Director Dominik Graf spends really a lot of time establishing the characters, the place and time. But I think he wasn't really that much interested in the characters and their story, what he is really interested in is giving the viewer a feeling of how it was, a feeling of the time. But in the end he fails on both lines. The character story wasn't able to keep me interested, as I felt that the people in this film were very artificial. But the film was also not able to get across the feel of this time shortly before the wall was built. Sure, there is a lot of music and dancing of the time, and there are also good moments in this film, but what was essential?
Review of The Red Cockatoo
