East German singer forges solo career
Solo Sunny is the first of this year’s East German films to be screened by the Nelson Film Society. It is codirected by Konrad Wolf and Wolfgang Kohlhasse, who wrote the screenplay with Dieter Wolf. Widely regarded as one of the best films to come out of the German Democratic Republic (GDR), it is the director’s final film and is presented in co-operation with the Goethe Institut.
Sunny (Renate Krobner) is a singer in a band called the Tornadoes. They perform mainly for small crowds and mostly for older people. Sunny’s desire is to become a successful solo artist and move to the big city; she’s also looking for love.
When the saxophonist becomes injured and has to be replaced in the band, the musician and philosopher Ralph (Alexander Lang) steps in, and not long after he and Sunny become lovers. Ralph writes a song for Sunny, but their relationship doesn’t last. Sunny finally does get the chance to sing solo on the stage, and she sings the song Ralph wrote for her, but when she finds she no longer feels the love she craves from the audience she gives up.
Although such dreams of promoting an individual over the collective were not encouraged by East German socialist ideals the film was not banned or censored by the state owned film society. In fact, it was sold out at the time of its release and Renate Krobner won the Silver Bear for Best Actress at the 30th Berlin International Film Festival.
Whereas other Konrad Wolf films tend to handle political and war issues, this one is more about day to day life in the ‘70’s in GDR, addressing issues of women, sexual liberation, and personal ambitions. It even looks at class issues, which were supposedly non-existent under communism. Although in one sense Sunny was not the stereotypical woman of the GDR, she does embody ambition and strong-will, clearly representing the country’s position on women.
The film was inspired by a German singer named Sanije Torka, and Regine Dobbershutz sang all of the songs that were performed by Sunny in the film, with the music composed by Gunther Fischer, a jazz musician. Eberhard Geick was the cinematographer.