Trace Of Stones (aka Spur der Steine/1966/East
Germany/First Run Features)
Picture: C+ Sound: C+ Extras: C Film: B
In Soviet
Cinema, especially when Stalin was in charge, you could get literally killed
for making the wrong film. People would
disappear and you would never hear from them again. The communist East Germans could be as hard,
but decided they were masters of censorship and when Frank Beyer made Trace Of Stones (aka Spur der Steine) in 1966, it was
withdrawn immediately as a threat to those in power.
With
segments that visually bring The Western alive, show the cold bureaucracy of
the state and adds a love story (a triangle no less) in a modern tale about the
freedom of a small construction site being taken over by the state, those in
power were left climbing the walls.
Instead
of being a dumb or dated political piece, the Karl Georg Engel/Beyer screenplay
is rich with many aspects of living and human nature covered. Ultimately, it is like watching Alphaville at times in its cold
indictment of the modern city (wonder if they saw Godard’s film) though there
is no Science Fiction here. The acting
is top rate, the events knowing and film proof that people stuck behind the
Iron Curtain were not as dumb as those ruling them thought, ready to make the
first crack in that curtain.
Now long
after the reunification of the split Germany, it is seen as the key film it is,
far ahead of its time and never becomes boring in its 133 minutes. It is also a subversive Political classic
that can finally be appreciated for its enduring edge. It also proves that Beyer was one of the most
important filmmakers of his generation and in his country, no matter how
circumstances tried to stop him.
The letterboxed
2.35 X 1 image was shot in Totalvision by Beyer’s longtime Director of
Photography Gunter Marczinkowsky (Naked
Among Wolves, Jakob The Liar)
and though it was shot in OrwoColor, it was printed in black and white as this
lesser version of Agfa Color is very unstable and is among the first color stock
ever printed this way. You can see some
of the gray scale looks like color and not real black and white, but the look
of the film is very good just the same.
Too bad
this is not a new HD anamorphic transfer, but you can see more than enough of
the filmmakers’ intent. The Dolby
Digital 2.0 Mono is fairly good for its age.
Maybe it sounds better since it was banned for so long and not played
much at all. Extras include a DEFA
trailer, text on other Beyer DVDs available from First Run, text bio/filmographies,
Censored! featurette on the film,
introductory essay and interview with Krystyna Stypulkowska.
- Nicholas Sheffo
