Banale Tage (1992)

East Berlin, the late 1970s. Sixteen-year-old schoolboy Michael, son of playwright Peter Wagner, and Thomas, an apprentice toolmaker from a modest family, are friends. They met after going to a disco, when they could not find a seat on the last tram, set off home on foot, and eventually ended up at Michael’s house. There they talked at length about everything under the sun, and this encounter gave rise to a friendship between the two very different boys, united by their shared desire to escape the stuffiness of home, school, and work. Their rebellion is a grotesque trip through the banality of everyday life. Michael gets into trouble at school when forbidden literature is found in his possession. His father deals with the problem in his own way: he sleeps with the headmistress. Thomas is constantly arguing with his foreman, writes leaflets that make no sense, and breaks into a vacant apartment to occupy it with Michael; Michael, however, is busy with his first night of love at the same time. As they try to find their place in the church underground, they come to the attention of the State Security Service for the first time. Michael’s father stages a new, critical play, which Thomas finds ridiculous. At the premiere party, Thomas picks a fight with a minister who attended the performance, and the next day he is arrested at his workplace. No one knows where he is now. Michael searches for his friend after returning from an unexpected trip to the Baltic Sea with his father. In the end, the film’s plot itself turns out to be staged.