Hooptober XII | 30/31 | Extra Credit 2/3
Since the opening of the borders on November 9th, 1989, hundreds of thousands of GDR citizens have left their country. Today, many of them live unrecognized among us. 4% never arrived…
Leipzig
October 3rd, 1990
Clara’s husband informs Clara that he got the job in West Germany, and Clara won’t have to work anymore. He tries to get Clara to have sex, but then finds their cat (I think) mutilated on the bed. Clara charges at him and slits his throat before throwing up. She takes off a wig and hits the road.
At the former border between East and West Germany, unemployed customs officials play music around an oil drum fire. Still, when Clara approaches, they ask for her ID and question her. She curses at them, telling them the times have changed, and drives across the border from the former GDR to West Germany.
Clara stops at a cafe to use their phone to call Artur, her lover. The store owner offers her “real skin” to eat, but she declines. Outside, a man in a clown mask stares through the window. The store owner grabs a butcher knife to scare the man off. Clara hits the road again, passing a strange hitchhiker before stopping at some ruins to meet Artur.
Immediately, Artur SAs Clara while the hitchhiker watches. The hitchhiker then bashes in Artur’s face with a rock. A convertible passes by, and Clara screams for help. The convertible drives away. “We cannot stop for every little thing!” Finally, Clara fends off the hitchhiker with the knife she used to kill her husband and drives off to find help for Artur.
The film follows Clara and other East German emigrants as they navigate a city of ruins full of homicidal weirdos.
It's outrageous. You are only a guest!
Post-WWII, West Germany and Austria rapidly rebuilt their economies under an ordoliberal growth model, a social market economy that contrasts with the neoliberal free-market capitalism of the West. But after the wall came down, as the government tried to privatize East Germany’s state-owned economic firms, Germany attempted a transition to free-market capitalism to meet the rapid infrastructure demands. As a result, the economy in eastern Germany went into a massive slump almost immediately, with explosive unemployment and an enormous economic strain on the German welfare state.
Throughout the movie, the TV shows the reunification ceremony outside Berlin’s Reichstag building, as well as footage of a North Korean float parade, alluding to economic discussions about a theoretical reunification of North and South Korea. Of course, this will likely never happen, regardless of whether North Korea would be willing, simply because it would cause a similar economic burden on South Korea.
The film explores the rampant poverty and the devaluation of human life under a fully capitalist system. It contains homages/references to the first two Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies. It also has the freewheeling chaos of an early John Waters film. If you can get on its wavelength, it’s a wild ride. But this one won’t be for everyone.
Further Reading
Stray Thoughts / Spoilers
- Haunted strings and oppressive atmosphere.
- Whenever someone gets murdered, the film goes into ultra slowmo. Udo Kiers shows up in Hitler drag, complete with a mustache drawn on in the shape of a swastika. He also sets himself on fire.
- The Batman one-piece bathing suit is chef’s kiss.