Wader Wecker Vater Land (2011)

The documentary portrays two of Germany’s most important singer-songwriters, Hannes Wader and Konstantin Wecker, on a joint concert tour across Germany. Director Rudi Gaul follows the seemingly very different artists from rehearsals through the tour. Between performances, the two look back on the turbulent years of the 1968 movement. Thanks to its trusting approach and deft use of archival footage, Wader Wecker Vater Land is not just a concert film, but also reflects a chapter of German history that the two musicians helped shape with their songs. The film honestly depicts the encounter between two contrasting characters. They speak with striking openness, allow the camera to follow them at home and among their families, and speak freely about their inner conflicts and misgivings. It becomes clear that these two men do not exempt themselves from the criticism of their times that they express in their songs. The joint tour presents the two very different musicians with difficulties and the challenge of opening themselves up to one another. Wader, who comes from Westphalia and was born in 1942, and Wecker, a Bavarian born in 1947, have little in common, either as personalities or in their musical expression. Yet they find contradictions inspiring and focus on what unites them. As political and socially critical singer-songwriters, both came under similar pressure. Wader, with his folk music and mildly critical, dreamy lyrics, was not radical enough for the left-wing revolutionaries of the 1970s; Wecker even fled to Tuscany for a while to avoid attempts to co-opt him politically. Later, both also experienced the loneliness of the artist who loses touch with reality. In response, Wader joined the German Communist Party, while Wecker became addicted to cocaine. Today, stripped of many illusions, they still believe it is worth striving for a better world, including as singer-songwriters. What has remained in their songs and in their lives is the longing not to have to compromise themselves, but to be true to their individual natures, with all their weaknesses, passions, and excesses, and the desire to keep changing and testing their limits.