Die Unberührbare (No Place to Go)

When the Berlin Wall is torn down in 1989, a left-wing author Hanna Flanders (Hannelore Elsner) is completely shocked and sees no future for herself without the DDR. She decides to move to Berlin to start over with her former lover but everything has changed so profoundly that she just cannot find her place in the world anymore.

Even though at first the movie seems like a primarily societal one, the politics provide only the backdrop for Hanna's personal journey and the examination of feelings of alienation in the modern world. The beautiful, classy black & white cinematography and the mise en scène emphasize Hanna's loneliness and the film focuses entirely on her. She meets a lot of people on her travels, both old friends and relatives as well as new acquaintances, but none of them stay in the picture for long and very few understand how she feels about the DDR or life in general. They all have different views on the events, thus providing a look into the minds of ordinary Germans of the era, so in the end the film does have a strong societal level too, despite the main attention being on personal feelings.

The character of Hanna Flanders is based on director Roehler's mother, German writer Gisela Elsner who committed suicide in 1992, so I can imagine the film having been a very personal project for Roehler. Luckily his strong directorial style makes the story appealing to the general public too and not just to those familiar with Elsner's life and works. Hannelore Elsner (no relation to Gisela Elsner despite the name) also does a very convincing job in showing Hanna Flanders' emotions throughout the film. I think I can safely recommend No Place to Go to anyone who is into bleak, depressing portrayals of anxiety and loneliness, but the presentation of the social climate of the era should also fascinate those who are interested in the Division of Germany and the end of it.