The Architects

One of the last productions of the state-sponsored East German film industry, 1990's The Architects focuses on a young architect who receives a dream assignment (designing a small city outside of East Berlin) but finds his bold and striking plans getting lost in the shambles of the communist bureaucracy. Complicating matters, rival architects are interfering in order to have a hand in the project, and the main character's marriage has been on the rocks for some time and is showing no signs of improving under the stress of his work. Perhaps this was considered a bold statement by the standards of the East German film industry, or maybe it just had the good fortune to sneak into production during a time when communist rule over Germany was crumbling and censorship became lax. Whatever the case, the film's endlessly strident criticism of the East German government becomes tiresome quickly, while its theme contrasting originality in architecture and life bears more than a passing resemblance to the plotline (if not the socioeconomic text) of Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead (there is also a bothersome romantic subplot). Serious students of German cinema may find some curio value in this DVD release--which also includes a short film about director Peter Kahane, a filmmaker interview, and a Q&A with screenwriter Thomas Knauf--but most others will want to skip. Not recommended. [Note: the 1958 East German film Sun Seekers, from director Konrad Wolf, is also newly available.] (P. Hall)