THE LAWYERS - A GERMAN STORY [DIE ANWÄLTE – EINE DEUTSCHE GESCHICHTE]
by Birgit Schulz Germany 2009 35 mm 90 min. OV Engl. ST
In the early 1970s the leftist lawyers Otto Schily, Hans-Christian Ströbele and Horst Mahler fight against a state perceived as restrictive - the Federal Republic of Germany. They defend members of the Red Army Fraction (RAF), a left-wing terrorist organisation, and stand in solidarity with those deemed public enemies. Nowadays they have nothing in common anymore – one of them former home secretary, one symbolizing the left wing of the Green Party and the third turned fascist.
Birgit Schulz portrays the life stories of three former lawyers, and how they helped forming the FRG.
"(…) an explosive film, well providing food for heated discussions. At the same time it points out merits and achievements of the democratic polity, which endures and carries out political conflict and antagonism." (excerpt from the reasoning of the movie rating board for the rating "especially valuable")
