Das schweigende Klassenzimmer

This is a nice and well done movie about a class that defied their teachers but more importantly, even if they didn't know it the tyranny of their goverment. It is more than decent and even if you may not always feel entirely convinced by the acting (I think it's way above average here and very good for a german cinema release to say the least), the movie has a (real life) story to tell.

You may not have been aware of this, and to be truthful neither were the pupils in this. Some things feel forced and some incidents may feel a bit over dramatized, but they work in the story that unfolds. Also the characters are really nicely drawn. There are quite a few emotional moments and quite a few were you may feel helpless too ... it really is about being involved, if you let the movie do that to you, you are in for an experience

This film is even handed and explores why people take the positions they do. the themes are universal - the older generation carry the baggage of WWII, the legacy of fascism while the younger generation of high school students are idealistic and, to some extent, naive and easily manipulated. We understand why the East German government finds it imperative to stamp out 'counter revolutionary' activity. The characters are well rounded, not just evil cardboard cut outs. School officials are caught up in and compromised by a political system. The irony is by working together and maintaining solidarity the school students show precisely the qualities the 'socialist' regime of the GDR was supposed to be all about. The intrusive incidental music was the only thing which grated for me, and at times the movie lapsed in to melodrama but on the whole it was entertaining and thought provoking with a lavish attention to period detail.

Realistic, heart warming story about a fight against oppression

What a beautiful and impressive movie about the courageous boys and girls of a school in East Berlin in 1956

I enjoyed watching this film. Based on a true story, it faithfully reproduces the atmosphere of the post-war period, a few years before the building of the Berlin Wall. The direction is sober, apart from the tear-jerking sequence with Jonas Dassler crying in a church. Good acting and plot twists kept my attention until the end. I was moved by the situation of these young people. I also appreciated the values they share, such as solidarity and fraternity. With all they have to go through, it's clear that living at that time in East Germany was not a bed of roses.