Plantagenstraße 19 (1979)

The film tells the everyday stories of various residents of a typical East German apartment building. Marianne Madäus has just separated from her husband, Manfred, and moves into a new apartment with their two children, Simone and Frank. Manfred often visits the children. Simone is happy about it, but Frank has difficulty adjusting to the new situation and acts coldly toward his father. Marianne also gets a new job at the theater, where she meets a new boyfriend. However, she assures Manfred that he will always be the children’s father and can continue visiting them. Richard Matuschke, an older factory worker, was recently widowed. Since his wife’s death, he has had less contact with his neighbors and coworkers, who don’t know how to deal with him. When a newspaper reporter comes to write about his work team, Matuschke tells him the truth about shortages of materials and careless colleagues. When the story is actually published, his coworkers see him as a traitor. His colleague Gertrud, with whom he had an affair years earlier, visits him often and helps him around the house. But when the others start gossiping about their relationship, Gertrud wants to end it. Then the two meet again at Richard’s wife’s grave, where Gertrud tends the flowers—and, it seems, will continue looking after Richard as well. Wolfgang Arnold takes great care to make a good impression in every respect: a stylish apartment, a gleaming car, and two hardworking sons with good grades. His wife, Helga, however, doesn’t yearn for material things but for more warmth in their family. Their older son, Hartmut, is about to graduate from high school. Once he has his university place confirmed, his behavior and diligence suddenly decline, so his teacher visits the family—a visit that greatly displeases Wolfgang. Alexander, the younger son, belongs to a gang of teenagers who ride around on mopeds, smoke and play cards in the entrance hall, and have nowhere they can get together privately. Mr. Matuschke is the only one who understands the teenagers and offers them the summerhouse in his allotment garden as a place to meet. But the very first party there has to be broken up by the ABV after neighbors complain about the noise. When Wolfgang is passed over for a promotion and a woman who has worked at the company for less time than he has gets the higher position instead, he cannot accept it. He investigates his rival, which leads to an argument with his wife, who accuses him of envy and excessive ambition. He also clashes with his neighbor, Mr. Tillack, over plans to build a garage block that would mean sacrificing a green space and an old apple tree. Wolfgang considers the garages necessary, but Tillack feels sorry for the tree and fears that the children will soon have nowhere left to play outside. On the ground floor, Mr. and Mrs. Tillack live with their sixteen-year-old daughter, Katrin, who is also part of Alexander’s gang. A first romance is budding between her and Alexander, but at a party his brother Hartmut tries to seduce her, sparking a quarrel between the brothers. On the night after the party, the teenagers throw fireworks into a closed newspaper kiosk and accidentally set it on fire. While the others flee, Alexander is the only one who tries to put out the flames. Mr. Matuschke helps him, but warns him that he must report the incident to the police the next day. The stories are interwoven rather than told one after another. The film ends with Katrin and Alexander sitting on a bench beside a pond and talking about their future—perhaps a future together.