The Tower

The last decade of Communist rule in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) of East Germany provides the backdrop for Christian Schwochow's two-part miniseries centering on the Hoffmann family. Richard (Jan Josef Liefers) is head of surgery at a clinic in Dresden that is suffering from lack of funds. Despite the fact that he has a supportive wife (Claudia Michelsen), Richard has been carrying on an affair with a nurse, with whom he has a young daughter. His life is further complicated by pressure from the Stasi to provide dirt on a colleague, and by disappointment in his son Christian (Sebastian Urzendowsky), a university student (and aspiring doctor) who he feels is not working up to his potential. When Christian is discovered with a forbidden Nazi book, he is forced to enter the army, and after further infractions is sent to prison, where his antipathy towards the regime only deepens. In a related subplot, Christian's uncle, a literary editor, finds his own efforts to publish important work stymied by governmental censorship, leading him to develop a rebellious streak as well, which includes listening to Western radio broadcasts. The Tower culminates in the closing days of the GDR, when street protests against the government are growing in size and frequency, and a mother and son confront each other on opposite sides. Although not without some elements of soap opera, Schwochow's portrait of a disintegrating socialist world is a historically potent one. Recommended. (F. Swietek)