Kennen Sie Urban? (1971)

During an extended stay in hospital, Hoffi meets Comrade Urban. They share a room, and after some initial problems, they get along better and better. Above all, Hoffi learns a lot about real life from the surveying engineer, who has already worked in Algeria and Cuba—and he needs to, since Hoffi spent a year and a half in prison for aggravated assault. After being discharged from hospital, Hoffi and his younger brother, whom he calls Keule, a Berlin nickname for a little brother, travel from one major construction site in the GDR to another in search of Urban, who has become Hoffi’s role model. But nobody knows him. At one construction site, though, they meet Gila, a pretty Berliner doing an internship in a drafting office. The site is looking for workers, and there is accommodation available, so the two Hoffmann brothers stay. They like the work, are accepted by the crew, and Hoffi’s time in prison is no issue. Nor is it an issue for Gila, with whom he has by now fallen in love. But Hoffi and Keule want to move on, since they have to find Urban. Their colleagues, however, persuade them to stay a little longer. The next problem is already waiting: the next construction site is in Berlin. Hoffi is banned from Berlin, a common form of punishment in the GDR, even though it is his home city and his mother lives there. The construction-site management resolves the problem. Hoffi and Keule cannot stay in their old room at their mother’s, because it is occupied by her boyfriend, so they move into a workers’ hostel. Gila’s parents strongly disapprove of her relationship with Hoffi, and still do when they learn she is expecting a child. Angry, Gila leaves her parents, whom she had always considered generous and tolerant. The two now look for a place of their own and, through the efforts of people who see the good in others, are assigned a vacant shop, which they renovate themselves. But Hoffi suddenly sees commitment as a problem, and every evening he retreats to the hostel to be with his brother. It may also have something to do with the fact that he met Urban’s wife and visited her at home. There he learned that Urban is now working in Vietnam, but he also saw the difficulties faced by a woman with two children whose husband is away on a work assignment. Keule now pursues his childhood dream and applies for an apprenticeship with the circus, since he has always wanted to work with animals. Just as Hoffi finally decides to move in with Gila and marry her, he receives his call-up papers for military service. During a party at the shop they have turned into a home, where the mood is very subdued, Hoffi suddenly runs to Gila’s parents and manages to persuade them to come to the party. Now everything seems to be all right again. When Hoffi, already in uniform, is waiting for his train at Berlin Ostbahnhof, he spots Urban on a train that is already pulling away, heading for another new construction site. But Hoffi no longer needs his help.