Whether comedy, drama or thriller: the Berlin Wall has always been the subject of very different films. The Wall was a favourite image in international spy films in particular, as it impressively illustrated the border between the systems, the Iron Curtain. In the 1980s, West German films began to show life in a country divided by the Wall in comedies with satirical exaggeration. In the GDR, on the other hand, the Wall, the "anti-fascist protective wall", was considered taboo - even in film. We have put together a small selection of very different films from the divided city for you.
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Tip 1: Wings of Desire
Wim Wenders Der Himmel über Berlin (Wings of Desire ) is the Berlin film par excellence, which still enchants today with its black and white poetic images. The angels not only walk through walls but also the Wall. Scenes at the Brandenburg Gate - still located in East Berlin at the time - were originally planned, but the script was rejected by the responsible GDR authorities. The film shows a Berlin Wall that the angels can pass through effortlessly. A wild wasteland is Potsdamer Platz, which is located directly next to the Wall and is now a completely new neighbourhood with high-rise buildings.
The Staatsbibliothek at Potsdamer Platz is also vividly portrayed in the film with tracking shots by legendary cinematographer Henri Alekan.
Tip 2: One, Two, Three
The sharp-tongued comedy One, Two, Three (Eins, zwei, drei) by Billy Wilder pokes fun at everyone: The capitalist Americans, the communist Russians and the Germans who are still obedient to authority. The film was shot in 1961: the construction of the Berlin Wall meant that the Brandenburg Gate had to be recreated in the Munich studios. As nobody could laugh about the division between East and West immediately after the Wall was built, the film was a flop. It was not until the 1980s that the film was rediscovered in West Berlin's arthouse cinemas and celebrated great success.
Tip 3: Goodbye Lenin
Shortly before 9. November, Christiane Kerner falls into a coma and misses the fall of the Berlin Wall. After she wakes up again, her family tries to hide the fall of the Wall and the end of the GDR from her. In the end, her son (Daniel Brühl) plays her a fake video of the fall of the Wall, in which West Germans tired of capitalism storm the GDR, which has generously opened the border. The warm-hearted comedy Goodbye Lenin was a great success with audiences and critics alike.
You can see the head of the monumental Lenin memorial today in Spandau Citadel.
Tip 4: The Spy who came in from the cold
One of the first and still best-known East-West spy films: The Oscar-nominated film with a top-class cast including Richard Burton and Oskar Werner ends with a deadly escape at the Berlin Wall. The Spy who came in from the cold paints a realistic, disillusioned picture of the machinations of the secret services, in which even the spies are just pawns.
Tip 5: Sonnenallee
Leander Haußmann's film Sonnenallee tells the story of a youth in the shadow of the Wall, using the means of comedy to show the absurdities of the situation - including the tragic ones. The Wall once also divided the street Sonnenallee, with the shorter southern section being in the GDR.
Tip 6: Octopussy
Also James Bond was in the GDR: At the Allied border crossing Checkpoint Charlie the top English spy James Bond enters the GDR to seek out the Octopussy circus playing in Karl-Marx-Stadt. The Cold War and the arms race form the backdrop for the thriller Octopussy, which is also set in Cuba and India.
Tip 7: Bridge of Spies
The true story behind a Cold War prisoner exchange is told by master director 2015 Steven Spielberg in his film"Bridge of Spies" starring Tom Hanks. The film was nominated for six Oscars, with Mark Rylance winning for his nuanced portrayal of Russian spy Rudolf Abel. The Glienicke Bridge, where the exchange took place, connects Berlin with Potsdam, where the German-German border ran right across the - naturally closed - bridge. Take a look, you can still see two different colours in which it was painted.
Tip 8: Herr Lehmann
The attitude to life in Kreuzberg in the 1980s in the shadow of the Wall is portrayed in the comedy Herr Lehmann - laconically and with typical Berlin humour. In the end, the Wall comes down and a new era dawns for the old West Berlin too.
The pub where Herr Lehmann spends his time really does exist. You can still eat delicious schnitzel at the "Weltrestaurant Markthalle" in Markthalle Neun.
Tip 9: Funeral in Berlin
The film Funeral in Berlin begins with a thrilling escape scene starring Michael Caine as spy Harry Palmer. A fugitive is smuggled over the Wall with a crane, which is the prelude to a gripping espionage thriller. Many scenes show West Berlin shortly after the Wall was built, and the Wall can also still be seen in the early construction phase.
The locations also include Breitscheidplatz, Kurfürstendamm, Tauentzienstraße and the Europa Centre.
Tip 10: Atomic Blonde
Shortly before the fall of the Wall, a MI6 agent (played by Charlize Theron) tries to secure a list of agent names. The action film shows the big demos on Alexanderplatz and the nervous tension of the time.
When Charlize Theron walks past the Kino International, you will see the announcement of the film Coming Out. The film was actually shown on 9 November 1989 - the day the Berlin Wall fell.
Tip 11: Coming out
Not a film about the Wall in the true sense - and yet forever associated with the fall of the Wall. Coming Out was the first GDR film about homosexuality. The premiere took place at Kino International on 9 November 1989. While around the guests watched the film, the Berlin Wall fell outside.
