Mama, I'm Alive
(Mama, ich lebe)
Mama, ich lebe © DEFA-Stiftung, Michael Göthe
| Wolf, Konrad |
| Kohlhaase, Wolfgang |
| Wolf, Konrad |
| Beck, Wolfgang |
| Klein, Günter |
| Wischnewski, Klaus |
| Wolf, Dieter |
| Carow, Evelyn |
| Bergmann, Werner |
| Hirschmeier, Alfred |
| Bergemann, Werner |
| Böhm, Rainer |
| Piontek, Klaus |
| Albert, Eugen |
| Banionis, Donatas |
| Gieß, Detlef |
| Kindinow, Jewgeni |
| Kirchberg, Eberhard |
| Lapikow, Iwan |
| Prager, Peter |
| Terechowa, Margarita |
| Wasskow, Michail |
| Zerbe, Uwe |
Synopsis
In a Russian POW camp, four Germans determined to end WWII change into Red Army uniforms. Are they patriots or traitors, heroes or opportunists? Although they go to the frontlines, their new Russian comrades are initially unsure whether to trust them. Three of them then accept a mission behind German lines, but they are unprepared to fire upon their countrymen and it ends up costing the life of a Russian soldier. In the meantime, the fourth man has fallen in love with Russian radio operator Svetlana. After being criticized by the other Russians, he too agrees to participate in the mission…
This film, which centers on the difficult moral questions raised in wartime, draws on director Konrad Wolf's experiences as a propaganda officer with the Red Army in Germany at the end of WWII. Wolf saw this film—which was inspired by the 1934 Russian war film Chapaev and featured actor Donatas Banionis (Solaris, Goya, Beethoven – Days of a Life)—as a consolidation and continuation of what he wanted to express in his 1967 film I Was Nineteen.
Awards
| 2017 | Film:ReStored_02, Das Filmerbe-Festival, Berlin |
| 2001 | Das geteilte Himmel retrospective, Film Archive Austria, Vienna |
| 1978 | Silver Prize, Avellino International Film Festival, Italy |
| 1977 | Art Prize of the Free German Trade Union Federation (Werner Bergmann, Wolfgang Kohlhaase, Konrad Wolf) |
| 1977 | Golden Bear nominee, Berlin International Film Festival |
| 1977 | Interfilm Award (Special Mention), Berlin International Film Festival |
Press comments
“Director Konrad Wolf succeeds in creating striking scenes within these psychologically conflictual circumstances.” —Heinz Kersten, So viele Träume
“The film is based on Fragen an ein Foto (Questions for a Photo), a radio drama by [scriptwriter Wolfgang] Kohlhaase that aired in 1969. As with most of Kohlhaase’s work, one focus is on the subtleties of language and their effects on our ability to communicate with each other. This time he moves outside of his usual Berlin sphere to tackle the problems of communicating across two different languages and What to do? The way he wrote it was basically incomprehensible! cultural differences can impede the exchange of ideas. This was Kohlhaase’s third film with Konrad Wolf, but it wouldn’t be his last. The duo would work together again on Solo Sunny, possibly their best effort as a team.” —Jim Morton, eastgermancinema.com
“Mama, I'm Alive has a profound resonance of loss and hope characteristic of Konrad Wolf's work.” —Tony Safford, AFI
“One of Wolf’s finest films, Mama, I'm Alive.” —BAMPFA.org
“An intermedial parable of antifascism.” —Larson Powell, The Films of Konrad Wolf: Archive of the Revolution
