NVA (2005)

In the autumn of 1988, new conscripts arrive at the Fidel Castro Barracks in the GDR. Among them are the dreamy, sensitive Henrik Heidler and the rebellious, swaggering Krüger, whose long hair and provocative manner immediately attract the officers’ disapproval. When the recruits show one another photographs of their girlfriends, Krüger is the only one without a photo to show. He explains that he has just broken up with his girlfriend because of his impending compulsory military service. Both recruits frequently clash with the officers and the older conscripts, known as EKs (discharge candidates). Various EK rituals and hazing practices are shown, especially the way they humiliate and even torment the young soldiers (“smooth-heads”). After Eva, Henrik’s girlfriend, breaks up with him by letter because of his long term of service, he starts looking for a new girlfriend—a prospect that seems almost impossible in the life of a conscript in the GDR. However, when he gets lost in the woods during a combat exercise, he meets Marie, a young nurse who later turns out to be the daughter of the humorless base commander, Colonel Kalt. Despite all the obstacles imposed by conscript life, Marie and Henrik develop a romantic relationship. Henrik’s comrade Krüger, meanwhile, is sent by Colonel Kalt for a time to the notorious disciplinary company in Schwedt/Oder for feigning illness and thereby going absent without leave. When he returns, his character seems completely transformed. Nothing remains of his rebellious nature or his sense of humor. Krüger now appears to be the “perfect soldier,” but he is deeply affected psychologically and broken as a person. When nurse Sonja visits the barracks and manages, with the help of a song, to remind him of his rebellious days, Krüger bursts into tears and recalls his former self—and, with it, his friends. On November 10, 1989, Henrik makes a decision and finds the courage to contradict his superior, Colonel Kalt. At an event held to commend him, he says that he cannot serve anyone and, in fact, does not want to. He says goodbye to Colonel Kalt, whereupon many other conscripts also say their farewells and leave the barracks, explaining that it is time to get on with other things. Colonel Kalt and his colleagues are left disillusioned. Captain Stummel wonders whether he should now join the Bundeswehr, while Horst, the weapons custodian, considers where to hide or bury the last of the unused ammunition.