Though this movie is comprised mostly of interviews, it does a good job at keeping visual interest by using cutaways during interviews - both of modern Berlin and historical footage and photos. All of which are great, both for people who've never been to the city, and the natives looking to pick out their favorite spots. Some of the more poignant images were of the modern-day line in the sidewalk that marks the location where the Berlin wall once stood - a line that tourists seem to make a game out of jumping over. Also, an image of the former DDR Parliament building in 2005 just before being torn down contrasted with an image of that same building in all its previously functioning glory. He even included many of the landmarks that I recognized from Goodbye Lenin, though whether that was a conscious decision, I don't know.
For the most part, the interviews were well-lit and well-shot, although there were some - particularly those shot outside – where there was a bit too much glare. Even though the whole production was a bit bare-bones, it still would have been a good idea to try to shoot in less direct sunlight, or to get someone to hold a bounce card or diffuser to balance out the light. (A great book for improving documentary production is The Shut Up and Shoot Documentary Guide .)
For the most part, the dialogue was easy to understand, but there were three interviews that perhaps should have been shot in different locations. There was one shot inside a restaurant with so much background noise that it was quite distracting. It was even a little difficult to hear the interviewee, even though he was wearing a microphone. There was another interview that was shot outside but seemed to be on the patio of a restaurant. The background noise was less here, but still a bit of a distraction. Also, the interview with the Ukrainian was, as mentioned previously, a little hard to understand, which was likely due to both her accent and all the solid surfaces she was standing near. Since she ran the Checkpoint Charlie museum, I had thought it would be nice to see her standing next to the actual checkpoint, since I’ve been told it still sits next to the museum. However, since it’s now a tourist attraction, the problems discussed above in regards to background noise had to be contended with.
I realize that production for this film was probably quite small and that interviews had to be arranged at short notice, but it would have been a good idea to find places with a lot less background noise or multiple hard surfaces for audio to echo off of; particularly since all the interviewees had very interesting things to say and it would be a shame if the audience were to miss anything.
The film’s soundtrack was also good and not too overpowering, but I would have liked to at least hear a hint of the DDR’s national anthem, as it really is a beautiful piece of music. This may fall into the same category of appropriateness that started the entire film – whether it’s appropriate to wear the logo of the DDR and/or play its anthem. It’s not exactly something that needs to be discussed in the film, but I still would have liked to hear at least a bit of it in the soundtrack.
