The real life story of East German singer and writer Gerhard Gundermann and his struggles with music, life as a coal miner and his dealings with the secret police (STASI) of the GDR.
Acting
Alexander Scheer disappears completely into Gundermann's hunched, chain-smoking soul
Direction
Dresen films concert scenes like holy rituals in fluorescent-lit union halls
Sound
Gundermann's actual songs, raw and unpolished, carry the whole film
Director
Andreas Dresen
Alexander Scheer
Gerhard Gundermann
Anna Unterberger
Conny
Kathrin Angerer
Irene
Milan Peschel
Volker
Axel Prahl
Führungsoffizier
Thorsten Merten
Puppenspieler
Bjarne Mädel
Parteisekretär
Eva Weißenborn
Helga
Benjamin Kramme
Wenni
Hilmar Eichhorn
Werner Walde
Alexander Hörbe
Angestellter Gauck-Behörde
Steffen Lehmann
Andy
Peter Schneider
Helmut
Peter Sodann
Veteran
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Alexander Scheer spent months learning Gundermann's Hoyerswerda dialect and actually performed live concerts in character to prepare.
Gundermann remains divisive in eastern Germany — some consider him a working-class hero betrayed by the system, others can't forgive the Stasi files. The film premiered in the exact same cultural centers where he once played.
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