Trace of Stones
Socialism good, the socialist party bad is the idea driving Trace of Stones, originally Spur der Steine, a film made in the German Democratic Republic in 1966. It was shown a handful of times and then withdrawn, not to be seen again until the fall of the Berlin Wall. Audience unrest, said the authorities. Don’t criticise the Party! The SED (Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deustschlands aka Socialist Unity Party of Germany) really does get it in the neck in what’s otherwise quite a familiar film, not a long way from the “kitchen sinkers” being made by the likes of Lindsay Anderson in the UK, though director Frank Beyer’s direction is looser, his approach to dialogue … Read more