The Legend of Rita
Encyclopedia
The Legend of Rita is a 2000 German film about fictionalised exiled West German radical left
Red Army Faction
members, though the fictional characters all have close parallels to several real-life RAF members. After a brief overview of the initial bank robberies of the 2nd of June Movement with the distribution of chocolate kisses as well as a disastrous prison break at the Westberliner Prison, the group flees, via the Friedrichstraße train station
, into the German Democratic Republic
. The film was originally released as Die Stille nach dem Schuß or The Silence after the Shot
Notably, the film is shot with a decidedly 1970s
esque color scheme, rather than with simply 1970s furniture and effects as most such movies do; this provides an interesting "throwback" visual experience for the viewer considering the movie was indeed made in the 21st century. And although the movie mainly centers around the trials and tribulations of a leftist-activist woman known as Rita Vogl, many motifs in the script reflect Inge Viett's real life, who really did flee to East Germany along with some others and really did get a new identity to live under.
during a prison break
in which some prison personnel and a lawyer
are accidentally killed, the desperate and fast-moving fugitive
RAF members speed across the border as fast as they can and get an offer from the state security
officer, Erwin Hull, to remain in the GDR. The Stasi is shown to be somewhat reluctant to take in Marxist-Leninists who espouse a more militant
and individualistic view than the republic's own Soviet-inspired ideology, but ultimately the GDR officials apparently consider it more important to keep fellow travelers safe than to prosecute them for vigilantism and murder
. The Stasi leaders thus eventually offer to create new identities for Vogt and the rest so that they can start a new life in the East. The two women, Friederike Adebach (inspired by Susanne Albrecht
) and Vogt, accept the offer, but the men refuse on the grounds of not wanting to retire their battle against the imperialist system
with armed force; later, they are seen being killed during their next attack. Hull's relationship with Rita as her control officer, a friend, and an adviser, meanwhile occupies a large place in the film, platonic
though it is.
The film then proceeds to detail Rita's new life, for which she rehearsed a fictitious "legend" or backstory that becomes her new "truth"; assumedly this is where the English translation "The Legend of Rita" comes from — the website IMDB calls this choice of translation "unfortunate". Once the "legend" is constructed, Rita is given a job at a Volkseigener Betrieb
clothing factory. There she appalls her colleagues — unlike them, for example, Rita takes socialist "solidarity" collections for projects in third world countries seriously. Her type of genuine leftist idealism is dismissed as naïve and troublesome in the Soviet-style state, and she is unpopular. But then when Rita's horrendously depressed
co-worker Tatjana, a fellow outcast who displays the same desperation towards state socialism
that Rita had harbored towards capitalism
, develop a mutual friendship, it bonds them closely and even sees them experimenting with intimacy
. Then a television announcement from West Germany
stops Rita short at a birthday party one night — the West German authorities continue to broadcast her as a wanted fugitive, and a co-worker recognizes her from the broadcast the next day and threatens to tell who she is. In response, the Stasi promptly remove her from her workplace and "legend", allowing her only a brief, painful separation from Tatjana.
Her next residence and workplace, "Legend Number 2", is a children's day care center. While on vacation by the Baltic Sea
, she gets to know and falls in love with a student, Jochen. Despite her cautiousness, it becomes ever more difficult for her to maintain her façade and hide her past. Shortly before her decision to travel with him to the Soviet Union
, she reveals her tale to him. Suddenly, out noticing a choir
performing, Rita sees Friederike Adebach again amongst the choir's participants; she is suffering under the new identity she'd taken, and bears it only with resignation — the same resignation and sadness seen on the faces of most other GDR nationals in the film; in this way, Friederike is seen to have become "one of them". Rita and Friederike's reunion is sullen and they part unceremoniously.
Throughout, the privations of the GDR are shown as drab, grey, dull and wooden to the viewer, but Rita is noticeably smiling and joyous, in extreme (almost unsettling) contrast to every person around her. For Rita the GDR has the romantic, happy aura that had been lacking in her angry expressions and attitude towards capitalism
in the beginning of the film, and that radical left
romanticism is also part of the reason why she displays such profound disappointment at the end of the film when Die Wende
occurs that no one except her had ever seemed to have any hope for socialism
as an "experiment".
In 1989/90 the GDR collapses; secret-service powers are disbanded in the GDR and the Stasi's weapons are confiscated; Erwin Hull informs Rita that he can no longer protect her; Tatjana is arrested by the People's Police
for harboring a terrorist; and it is rapidly only a question of time before Rita's true legend is exposed. Rita is furious at the people who had promised to help her, sees that she has no way out given that terrorism now "has no borders", and tries in an attempted stealth
move to speed across a backwoods border checkpoint by motorbike, during which an East German guard pierces her with several automatic rifle
bullets, thereby completing the betrayal Rita had hoped would never come.
Rita and her comrades are shown as having failed in their revolutionary
communist mission against injustice, and also for the self-proclaimed communist states of Eastern Europe
to have ultimately had the same disregard for human rights
as leftist radicals claim the system of capitalism
has. The last moment of the film flashes a line of text: "THAT'S EXACTLY HOW IT WAS. MORE OR LESS."
Far left
Far left, also known as the revolutionary left, radical left and extreme left are terms which refer to the highest degree of leftist positions among left-wing politics...
Red Army Faction
Red Army Faction
The radicalized were, like many in the New Left, influenced by:* Sociological developments, pressure within the educational system in and outside Europe and the U.S...
members, though the fictional characters all have close parallels to several real-life RAF members. After a brief overview of the initial bank robberies of the 2nd of June Movement with the distribution of chocolate kisses as well as a disastrous prison break at the Westberliner Prison, the group flees, via the Friedrichstraße train station
Berlin Friedrichstraße railway station
Berlin Friedrichstraße is a railway station in the German capital Berlin. It is located on the Friedrichstraße, a major north-south street in the Mitte district of Berlin, adjacent to the point where the street crosses the Spree river...
, into the German Democratic Republic
German Democratic Republic
The German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city...
. The film was originally released as Die Stille nach dem Schuß or The Silence after the Shot
Notably, the film is shot with a decidedly 1970s
1970s
File:1970s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: US President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office after the Watergate scandal in 1974; Refugees aboard a US naval boat after the Fall of Saigon, leading to the end of the Vietnam War in 1975; The 1973 oil...
esque color scheme, rather than with simply 1970s furniture and effects as most such movies do; this provides an interesting "throwback" visual experience for the viewer considering the movie was indeed made in the 21st century. And although the movie mainly centers around the trials and tribulations of a leftist-activist woman known as Rita Vogl, many motifs in the script reflect Inge Viett's real life, who really did flee to East Germany along with some others and really did get a new identity to live under.
Plot
After fleeing West GermanyWest Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
during a prison break
Prison Break
Prison Break is an American television serial drama created by Paul Scheuring, that was broadcast on the Fox Broadcasting Company for four seasons, from 2005 until 2009. The series revolves around two brothers; one has been sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit, and the other devises an...
in which some prison personnel and a lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
are accidentally killed, the desperate and fast-moving fugitive
Fugitive
A fugitive is a person who is fleeing from custody, whether it be from private slavery, a government arrest, government or non-government questioning, vigilante violence, or outraged private individuals...
RAF members speed across the border as fast as they can and get an offer from the state security
Stasi
The Ministry for State Security The Ministry for State Security The Ministry for State Security (German: Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (MfS), commonly known as the Stasi (abbreviation , literally State Security), was the official state security service of East Germany. The MfS was headquartered...
officer, Erwin Hull, to remain in the GDR. The Stasi is shown to be somewhat reluctant to take in Marxist-Leninists who espouse a more militant
Militant
The word militant, which is both an adjective and a noun, usually is used to mean vigorously active, combative and aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in 'militant reformers'. It comes from the 15th century Latin "militare" meaning "to serve as a soldier"...
and individualistic view than the republic's own Soviet-inspired ideology, but ultimately the GDR officials apparently consider it more important to keep fellow travelers safe than to prosecute them for vigilantism and murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
. The Stasi leaders thus eventually offer to create new identities for Vogt and the rest so that they can start a new life in the East. The two women, Friederike Adebach (inspired by Susanne Albrecht
Susanne Albrecht
Susanne Albrecht is a former member of the Red Army Faction.-Early life:Albrecht was the daughter of a successful maritime lawyer, and spent her childhood living in a wealthy suburb of Hamburg. She did not fit in well in public school, and was later sent to a private school in Holzminden...
) and Vogt, accept the offer, but the men refuse on the grounds of not wanting to retire their battle against the imperialist system
Anti-imperialism
Anti-imperialism, strictly speaking, is a term that may be applied to a movement opposed to any form of colonialism or imperialism. Anti-imperialism includes opposition to wars of conquest, particularly of non-contiguous territory or people with a different language or culture; it also includes...
with armed force; later, they are seen being killed during their next attack. Hull's relationship with Rita as her control officer, a friend, and an adviser, meanwhile occupies a large place in the film, platonic
Platonic love
Platonic love is a chaste and strong type of love that is non-sexual.-Amor Platonicus:The term amor platonicus was coined as early as the 15th century by the Florentine scholar Marsilio Ficino. Platonic love in this original sense of the term is examined in Plato's dialogue the Symposium, which has...
though it is.
The film then proceeds to detail Rita's new life, for which she rehearsed a fictitious "legend" or backstory that becomes her new "truth"; assumedly this is where the English translation "The Legend of Rita" comes from — the website IMDB calls this choice of translation "unfortunate". Once the "legend" is constructed, Rita is given a job at a Volkseigener Betrieb
Volkseigener Betrieb
The Volkseigener Betrieb was the legal form of industrial enterprise in East Germany...
clothing factory. There she appalls her colleagues — unlike them, for example, Rita takes socialist "solidarity" collections for projects in third world countries seriously. Her type of genuine leftist idealism is dismissed as naïve and troublesome in the Soviet-style state, and she is unpopular. But then when Rita's horrendously depressed
Clinical depression
Major depressive disorder is a mental disorder characterized by an all-encompassing low mood accompanied by low self-esteem, and by loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities...
co-worker Tatjana, a fellow outcast who displays the same desperation towards state socialism
State socialism
State socialism is an economic system with limited socialist characteristics, such as public ownership of major industries, remedial measures to benefit the working class, and a gradual process of developing socialism through government policy...
that Rita had harbored towards capitalism
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
, develop a mutual friendship, it bonds them closely and even sees them experimenting with intimacy
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
. Then a television announcement from West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
stops Rita short at a birthday party one night — the West German authorities continue to broadcast her as a wanted fugitive, and a co-worker recognizes her from the broadcast the next day and threatens to tell who she is. In response, the Stasi promptly remove her from her workplace and "legend", allowing her only a brief, painful separation from Tatjana.
Her next residence and workplace, "Legend Number 2", is a children's day care center. While on vacation by the Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
, she gets to know and falls in love with a student, Jochen. Despite her cautiousness, it becomes ever more difficult for her to maintain her façade and hide her past. Shortly before her decision to travel with him to the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, she reveals her tale to him. Suddenly, out noticing a choir
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
performing, Rita sees Friederike Adebach again amongst the choir's participants; she is suffering under the new identity she'd taken, and bears it only with resignation — the same resignation and sadness seen on the faces of most other GDR nationals in the film; in this way, Friederike is seen to have become "one of them". Rita and Friederike's reunion is sullen and they part unceremoniously.
Throughout, the privations of the GDR are shown as drab, grey, dull and wooden to the viewer, but Rita is noticeably smiling and joyous, in extreme (almost unsettling) contrast to every person around her. For Rita the GDR has the romantic, happy aura that had been lacking in her angry expressions and attitude towards capitalism
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
in the beginning of the film, and that radical left
Radical left
Radical left is a term used in the names of several political movements:* Det Radikale Venstre, a social-liberal party in Denmark* Radical Party of the Left , a social-liberal party in France...
romanticism is also part of the reason why she displays such profound disappointment at the end of the film when Die Wende
Die Wende
marks the complete process of the change from socialism and planned economy to market economy and capitalism in East Germany around the years 1989 and 1990. It encompasses several processes and events which later have become synonymous with the overall process...
occurs that no one except her had ever seemed to have any hope for socialism
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
as an "experiment".
In 1989/90 the GDR collapses; secret-service powers are disbanded in the GDR and the Stasi's weapons are confiscated; Erwin Hull informs Rita that he can no longer protect her; Tatjana is arrested by the People's Police
People's Police
People's Police may refer to:*People's Police of the People's Republic of China branches:*#Public Security Department People's Police*#State Security Department People's Police*#Justice Department People's Police*#People's Court Judicial Police...
for harboring a terrorist; and it is rapidly only a question of time before Rita's true legend is exposed. Rita is furious at the people who had promised to help her, sees that she has no way out given that terrorism now "has no borders", and tries in an attempted stealth
Stealth
Stealth may refer to:*Stealth technology, technology used to conceal ships, aircraft, and missiles*Stealth aircraft, aircraft which use stealth technology*Stealth ground vehicle, ground vehicles which use stealth technology...
move to speed across a backwoods border checkpoint by motorbike, during which an East German guard pierces her with several automatic rifle
Automatic rifle
Automatic rifle is a term generally used to describe a semi-automatic rifle chambered for a rifle cartridge, capable of delivering both semi- and full automatic fire...
bullets, thereby completing the betrayal Rita had hoped would never come.
Rita and her comrades are shown as having failed in their revolutionary
Revolutionary
A revolutionary is a person who either actively participates in, or advocates revolution. Also, when used as an adjective, the term revolutionary refers to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor.-Definition:...
communist mission against injustice, and also for the self-proclaimed communist states of Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
to have ultimately had the same disregard for human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
as leftist radicals claim the system of capitalism
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
has. The last moment of the film flashes a line of text: "THAT'S EXACTLY HOW IT WAS. MORE OR LESS."
External links
- film facts at filmportal.de