Her Third (Der Dritte/1971/East Germany)
Picture: C+
Sound: C+ Extras: C+ Film: B
Margit (Jutta Hoffmann) is a divorcee with two children
who works in a factory to get by and be part of the latest five-year plan and
“miracle” that is supposedly German Socialism.
However, she is smart enough to know what part of that is a lie just
enough to still want to find happiness.
Like so many Hollywood counterparts, Egon Günther’s Her Third (aka Der Dritte)
offers the same women’s dilemma of finding happiness with or without a man.
Instead of the usual melodrama, as “Moscow” and its
satellites do not “believe in tears” has Margit and her placement in this world
that is hell bent on being “modern” to build a better “future” in a way that
has little to do with finding life, liberty and the pursuit of real
happiness. The fact that she has been
divorced twice may speak to how she has become subtly disillusioned. However, she has found a man she likes and
might just try to tie the knot for the third and final (she hopes) time.
Armin Mueller-Stahl also stars in this interesting little
gem from the DEFA vault. A big
commercial and critical success in its time, the film is not just a time
capsule, but one that asks so many questions more mature films should still
ask. In some ways, the world is still
catching up with it and you can get further mileage by comparing it to Martin
Scorsese’s Alice Doesn’t Live Here
Anymore (1975) from about the same era.
The acting is solid and the film more than justifies its 107 minutes.
The 16 X 9/1.78 X 1 color image is not bad, but shows its
age somewhat and has some detail troubles.
At its best, the color is pretty good and makes watching a pleasure,
with cinematography by Erich Gusko often interesting. The Dolby Digital 2.0 German Mono is also
fine for its age as well. Extras include
newsreels on the film, a black & white “documentary” reel called Sylvia
(1983) about factory working women as in the film, text bio/filmographies,
stills, interview with writer Günther Rucker and a text essay by Erika Richter:
A Woman & GDR Society: A Parallel History
In Her Third that is worth your
time. Watch the film first, however, as
there are spoilers.
- Nicholas Sheffo
