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Category:    Home > Reviews > Drama > Comedy > Music > Singing > East Germany > Solo Sunny (1980/First Run Features DVD)

Solo Sunny (1980/First Run Features DVD)

 

Picture: C     Sound: C     Extras: C     Film: C+

 

 

The last major feature film by Konrad Wolf, Solo Sunny (1980, co-directed by its writer, Wolfgang Kohlhaase) is the celebrated but somewhat overrated tale of the title lady (Renate Krobner of Go For Zucker, reviewed elsewhere on this site) who is a singer trying to find a better life for herself and happiness along the way.  However, this melodrama is somewhat conventional and though the acting is good and its East Berlin locales a plus, this is a film that wraps up the 1970s freewheeling period with limited irony.

 

Rainer Werner Fassbinder it is not, but some of his influence is here, which is why this always feels somewhat like an imitator of his works versus what we get here.  Sonny is a likable character, singer and definitely has something to offer, but the underlying message of the film is that the feminism of the time in a repressive society like East Germany offers even less opportunities than the U.S. and there is this low world standard in respecting women that goes beyond politics and boundaries.  Too bad the film can’t do anything with that angle, but despite its limits, is worth a look.

 

The letterboxed 1.66 X 1 color image is softer than it ought to be, even when the good color cinematography by Eberhard Geick (in his debut) does manage to come through and the look of the film is part of its appeal.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is also a few generations down with some rough audio and decent score by Günther Fischer.  Extras include text bio/filmographies and short film Looking For Konrad Wolf & Solo Sunny.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo


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