Der Tangospieler (1991)

In 1968, Dr. Hans Peter Dallow is released from prison, where he had been sentenced to 21 months two years earlier. He is a historian and had previously been a senior assistant in the history department at Leipzig University; now, upon his release, he can barely write his own name. The prison officer finds the job title in his papers somewhat confusing, since he had entered prison as a pianist. After almost two years away, Dallow finds his apartment just as he left it, only heavily dust-covered. His first stop is his former regular bar, where he visits an old acquaintance, Harry the waiter. There he happens to run into his lawyer, Kiewer, who defended him at his trial and whom he only intends to greet, as well as Judge Dr. Berger, who sentenced him and is sitting at the same table as Kiewer. He exchanges a few unfriendly words with the judge. A few days later, Dallow takes his red Wartburg for a drive on the roads through the lignite-mining region south of Leipzig, just to feel the thrill of speed again. When he gets back, the phone rings. A Mr. Schulze from the City Council is on the line, insisting that he speak to Dallow in person. He summons him to the district court the next day, adding that Dallow has no choice. That evening, Dallow goes to a bar and meets 27-year-old bookseller Elke Schütte, who takes him home with her. Elke has already anticipated bringing a man home: she has prudently put her daughter Cornelia, who normally shares her room, to bed in the hallway. The next morning, Elke leaves the apartment with her daughter, leaving Hans Peter a key. Mr. Schulze is waiting for Dallow outside the district court and introduces his colleague, Müller. The conspicuous pairing of two such inconspicuous, everyday names amuses Dallow. They go together to an office in the building, where the two men offer him the chance to resume work in his old department the very next day. The only condition is that he work with them and provide information, but he refuses. Outside the university, he waits for Sylvia, a former student with whom he once had an affair, but she has lost interest in him. Since he is already at the university, he goes to his old office and is warmly welcomed by the secretary. His encounter with his successor, Roessler, however, is unpleasant. Dallow then goes home and gets drunk. After that, he heads to his parents’ home in a small village in the north of the GDR. His mother is glad to see him, but his father explains that he did not visit him because he would not set foot across a prison threshold, whatever the reason for the imprisonment. Hans Peter assures his parents that he was in prison only because he played the piano, but his father does not believe him. After Dallow returns, Messrs. Schulze and Müller ring his doorbell to ask whether he has reconsidered their offer. When he still refuses, they make it clear that they can not only help him but also make things difficult for him, and leave with a threat to come back. Several weeks after the night he spent with Elke, he turns up at her door again, wanting to sleep with her. At first she says no, but he persuades her. In bed, he tells her about his life: he was in prison for almost two years and explains how it happened. The pianist in the student cabaret fell ill, so Dallow filled in, accompanying the performers on the piano. Their songs contained lyrics that some people did not like. He only realized that when two uniformed men appeared at his door the next morning. That was the sole reason for his arrest. Since he does not want to return to the university but also refuses ever to work as a pianist again, he tries to get a job as a driver. However, whenever his imprisonment comes up in an interview, he is turned down. One evening, he runs into his defense lawyer and the judge again at his regular bar. Both thank him for inviting them to a performance by the student cabaret, which had performed the same show as two years earlier. They say they enjoyed it very much, but emphasize that this does not change the decisions they made back then. They add that it does show how much society has progressed since that time. Dr. Dallow credibly insists that he did not send the invitation. He later discovers that it was sent by someone who had been arrested alongside him at the time. So furious with Judge Dr. Berger, Dallow lies in wait for him and nearly chokes him unconscious in a park. At a party with Elke’s friends, he explains in response to their questions that he no longer works as a historian, has been in prison, and is no longer interested in politics—especially not in what is happening in Prague. Elke throws him out, saying he can come back only once he has got himself together. Messrs. Schulze and Müller do not give up either. This time they try accusing him of idleness. Even his successor tries to persuade him to work in the department again. He admits the idea was not his, but Dr. Berger’s, and that only an assistant’s post is available. To put an end to the harassment, Hans Peter learns to wait tables with the help of his pal Harry and applies for a summer job at a restaurant on the island of Hiddensee. He is hired and goes to say goodbye to Elke, but when they argue again, she throws him out of her apartment once more. Dallow settles into life and work on the island until one day Sylvia, who now works at the university, turns up and tells him a story. On August 21, the students were angrily discussing the invasion of Prague by the Warsaw Pact countries early in the morning. Their lecturer was still unaware of what had happened and asked where they had got their information. The students admitted they had heard it exclusively from Western radio stations. The lecturer said they had fallen victim to a provocation, because the socialist countries would certainly never undertake such an action. After the students showed him the TASS announcement in the daily newspapers, he left the seminar, and a few hours later he was suspended from his post. He now works as an assistant and is no longer allowed to give lectures. Dallow’s guess that it was Roessler is confirmed by Sylvia. She also says she was sent to bring him back to his former position in the department as Roessler’s successor. He agrees and will adapt to the system. On September 1, 1968, Dallow signs his employment contract.