During the 60s, there were many films made about alienated young men. Abschied (Farewell) is another film in that genre, but this one has the distinction of being made in East Germany, a country where you would not imagine a movie celebrating non-conformity would be made. The film was based on a famous German novel which might explain how it got made. (Although it ended up being unofficially banned.) Also, the society the lead character is rebelling about is Germany in the years leading up to the first World War. Hans Gastl is the son of a prominent prosecutor but the bullying and hypocrisy of his father and the other adults around him sicken him and he drifts into a life of petty crime. Will some new found friends save him from the road to ruin with their talk of socialism and Karl Marx? Abschied is a visually striking film, with many shots and editing tricks that owe a debt to the French New Wave movies of its time. I was rather bothered by the anachronistic look of the film--despite being set in the 1910s, everyone looks like they just stepped out of a 60s fashion magazine. But that's a minor complaint, which probably bothers me more than it will most people. Overall, it is an interesting movie.
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