Abschied - Brechts letzter Sommer (The Farewell)

Infused with a mood of apprehension and decay, this film concerns theatrical luminary Bertold Brecht and his inner circle on the final day of their summer vacation in 1956. Set entirely in Brecht's summer house in the East German countryside, the guests consist largely of the writer's lovers, past and present. Brecht's wife Helene Weigel has taken a remarkably charitable view of her husband's philandering. Brecht's current mistress, young actress Käthe Reichel is one of their guests, along with political dissident Wolfgang Harich and his wife, who is having an affair with Brecht with her husband's approval. Also, there is ex-lover and dissolute drunk Ruth Berlau; Brecht's editorial assistant, Elisabeth Hauptmann; and the playwright's teenaged daughter, Barbara. Each guest angles to garner Brecht's attention. Preparing to leave for a rehearsal in Berlin, Helli is visited by a young Stasi officer who informs her that Wolfgang will be arrested and charged with treason. Fearing for her husband's bad heart, she entreats the apparatchik to do the deed after Brecht has left... (Jonathan Crow)