Legend of Paul and Paula
Picture: D Sound: D Extras: C- Film: C+
In 1974 a film would be
released on East Germany that would become controversial, popular, and a
classic film in Germany with its no-holds bar attack on the views of life, love,
and all that falls between. Not only
that, but its bold, yet underlying themes of individualism, which at that time
in East Germany were subdued. Directed
by Heiner Carow, who would receive his most crowning glories at the end of his
career with his 1989 film Coming Out.
The Legend of Paul and Paula is a terrific little known film that
has every reason to re-emerge.
Our story follows that of
Paul a secret-service agent who is unhappily married and Paula, a single woman
with two kids. These two individuals,
despite their circumstances, meet and fall hopelessly in love with one
another. They are both fleeing from
outside forces in some way or another and cling to one another. Their optimistic love affair seems destined
to fail as tragedy forebodes. The film
also includes some obvious symbolism as old houses are torn down for the
construction of uniform socialist buildings.
First Run Features has
presented us with a very sub-par edition of The Legend of Paul and Paula with
a muddy, washed out, and very lackluster print that demonstrates the films
age. Colors bleed, detail is always a
problem, grain is apparent, and this DVD looks like a digital rendition of the
VHS with all the problems of poorly transferred DVD’s with pixelization being
very abundant.
The sound is offered in a
very harsh and distorted at times Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono soundtrack that gives
the film no edge or depth. Although
most English-speaking audiences will be reading the subtitles anyway, there is
the music provided by The Puhdy’s, a German cult band, which becomes
limited.
The Legend of Paul and
Paula will live on despite a basic
DVD that shows the amount of work needed to bring this film to life. For the time being this will have to do
until this film is able to receive more glories down the road either in this
format or another.
- Nate Goss
