THE LEGEND OF RITA by director Volker Schlöndorff offers an intriguing look at East Germany's role in the international revolutionary political movements of the 1970's. The film has an authentic feel in that it is not chock-full of clichéd characters that seem to populate these types of films. Rita is a member of a radical underground group that evolved from the American Civil Rights/Black Power/Anti-Vietnam movements of the 1960's. Although initially begun on the college campus of Berkeley California, within a decade these political and cultural movements morphed into lawless gangs which spread worldwide by the early 1970's. Their belief was that the system of Capitalism was systemically flawed, and therefore the criminal and judicial system was null and void. Schlondorff highlights the idealistic tendencies of the group members, and even seems to romanticize the organizations which supported them. Rita and her cohorts are nearly idealistic to a fault, and harbor an unusual or misplaced admiration for The Peoples' State. It's almost a running gag in the film that no one who lives in East Germany can believe that anyone would chose to live there. Although for a variety of reasons Socialism clearly was usurped by Capitalism by the early 90's, Volker Schlondorff has crafted a film that is a kind of a thoughtful advocacy for the positive aspects of a more collective political system. THE LEGEND OF RITA is a terrific film of the Thriller Genre, yet perceptively makes political points without becoming a polemic.
Review of The Legend of Rita
