Movielogr
The Promise (1995)
Directed by Margarethe von Trotta
Overview
East-Berlin, 1961, shortly after the erection of the Wall. Konrad, Sophie and three of their friends plan a daring escape to Western Germany. The attempt is successful, except for Konrad, who remains behind. From then on, and for the next 28 years, Konrad and Sophie will attempt to meet again, in spite of the Iron Curtain. Konrad, who has become a reputed Astrophysicist, tries to take advantage of scientific congresses outside Eastern Germany to arrange encounters with Sophie. But in a country where the political police, the Stasi, monitors the moves of all suspicious people (such as Konrad’s sister Barbara and her husband Harald), preserving one’s privacy, ideals and self-respect becomes an exhausting fight, even as the Eastern block begins its long process of disintegration.
Length 115 minutes
Actors
Corinna Harfouch | Hark Bohm | Otto Sander | Meret Becker | Tina Engel | Eva Mattes | August Zirner | Monika Hansen | Philippe Morier-Genoud | Jean-Yves Gautier | Dieter Mann | Simone von Zglinicki | Sven Lehmann | Ulrike Krumbiegel | Anian Zollner | Christina Große | Pierre Besson | Udo Kroschwald | Ruth Glöss | Hans Kremer | Klaus Piontek | Wolfgang Winkler | Heiko Senst | Anka Baier | Susanne Ugé