In this East German film, the third one in The Third is Margit's third lover. After her mother's death, Margit has two affairs which don't work out, and one lesbian friendship which she retains. She is looking for a husband, though, and thinks she has spotted a candidate in her fellow factory worker. As she contemplates marrying him, her story is told in a series of flashbacks.
Acting
Jutta Hoffmann carries decades of exhaustion in one glance.
Direction
Günther's flashback structure turns memory into emotional archaeology.
Director
Egon Günther
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
DEFA films of this era rarely centered working women's romantic lives so frankly; Günther smuggled feminist complexity past socialist-realist expectations.
Armin Mueller-Stahl's 'Blinder'—literally the blind man who sees Margit clearest—was already East Germany's biggest star, and this role cemented his reputation for moral ambiguity.
XG
