SEHNSUCHT

The source material is Jurij Koch’s novella “Der Kirschbaum” (“The Cherry Tree”), which is much loved by readers, was translated into several other languages and which he himself considers his “perhaps best-made work”. The idea to turn it into a film originated as early as in 1981, but it was not until 1989 that Jürgen Brauer could bring it about. When LONGING was first screened in May 1990, its explosive nature went under in the excitement of the ‘Wende’ period. Almost three decades later, the questioning of a blind belief in progress is more topical than ever. The film moreover satisfies not only with its lyrical compaction and the intensity of Ulrike Krumbiegel and Ulrich Mühe in the lead roles but is also a rarity in terms of film history. Sorbian life has hardly ever been depicted as casually and powerfully in German film as here, at least with regards to its culture of festivities and in no small measure due to the involvement of ‘real’ villagers. The film is screened on occasion of its digitisation by the DEFA Foundation, thus being made fit for posterity. GL