The Legend of Paul and Paula (Die Legende von Paul und Paula) East Germany, 1973

In this romantic story, two ordinary citizens of former East Germany meet at a bar. Before that happens, we see how they live their everyday routine. Life is not easy for Paula, who has two jobs: at a bottle recycling plant and at a state supermarket. Paul is an employee at the army. When they meet at a 70's style groovy bar, they start a love relationship that will not last very long. Paula falls deeply in love, and when Paul wants to break with her, her world is torn apart. She has two kids, and when one of them is run by a car and dies, the film stops being a comedy and turns into a drama. It is a very 70's movie, with various face close-ups, groovy rock music as background and colorful clothes. This was one of the most famous films to come out from behind the "iron curtain". Director Heiner Carow created a myth with Paul and Paula, with whom many Germans identified at the time. Many of the actors who appeared in this film decided to leave East Germany in the early 1980's in protest against the government's policies and repressions.