The article was written by Stephen Kinzer:
CHEMNITZ, Germany, March 1— As eastern Germany spirals toward economic collapse, people who live here have found a way to escape from the onrushing specter of unemployment and social upheaval.
They visit the local movie theater and see "Go Trabi Go," the first film comedy about German unification. It makes them laugh not precisely at themselves, but at the absurdities of the system under which they lived until last year.
In the six weeks since "Go Trabi Go" was released, more than 600,000 Germans have seen it, making it one of the most successful German films of recent years. It is playing in 125 theaters across the country, and is drawing big crowds in western as well as eastern cities.
The film tells the story of a father, mother and daughter from the bleak Saxon town of Bitterfeld who, finally free to travel abroad, pack into their Trabant and drive toward Italy. All three leading actors turn in lively performances, but the real star is the Trabant. A Part of the Family
Probably no symbol of the former East Germany is as widely recognized and ridiculed as the ugly, polluting Trabant, or Trabi, as it is affectionately known.
"You had to wait 10 or 15 years to get one, and when you did, you cherished it," said Wolfgang Stumph, who plays the father. "Your Trabi was part of the family. It represented your connection to the world."
"The Trabi was a lot like East Germany. It was far from perfect, but somehow it worked. You had to improvise every day to keep it going. It was small and smelly and it broke down a lot, but it was what we had."
Mr. Stumph, a well-known satirist and cabaret performer from Dresden, portrays a high-school German teacher entranced with Goethe's accounts of his travels in Italy. Whe East Germany's Communist Government collapses, he resolves to live out his lifelong dream of following Goethe's path. He paints the slogan "See Naples and Die!" on the back of his Trabi, packs his wife and daughter inside, and sets out.
The family's first contact with the West is in Bavaria, where a brother-in-law lives. He turns out to be a fat and boorish character who personifies the excess of West Germany's self-satisfied prosperity. When the noisy, overloaded Trabi pulls up in front of his impeccable suburban home, he gasps, "The Saxons are at the door!" and quickly hides his half-eaten chocolate cake.
From Bavaria, the family makes its way south, through nations of people who seem to love laughing at Trabis. At one point, when the car breaks down, the father telephones for road service. "What kind of a car do you have?" the service agent asks. "It's a 601," the father replies. "What, a Porsche?"
"No, a Trabant!"
The agent bursts out laughing. "Why don't you just leave that plastic can by the side of the road?" he suggests. The Trabi Triumphs
The Trabi survives a host of other outrages, including being mistaken for scrap at an auto junkyard. Insensitive Westerners subject it to ridicule at every stop, but it serves its owners well and no amount of abuse can destroy it. Like East Germans themselves, it survives through difficult times and ultimately triumph.
Thanks to the Trabi, the intrepid pilgrims from Bitterfeld finally reach Naples and are able to walk where Goethe walked.
Public premieres of "Go Trabi Go" have been held in several cities in eastern Germany. The three lead actors recently attended a premiere in Chemnitz, near the Czechoslovak border. The theater was packed, and outbreaks of delighted applause suggested that viewers recognized themselves on the screen.
"There's nothing in that film that isn't true," a young man said after the lights went back on. "You have to love your Trabi, just like you have to love your wife. It's part of what we are." Real-Life Vacations Recalled
Mr. Stumph and the actress who plays his wife, Marie Gruber, were surrounded by autograph-seekers after the show. The real commotion, though, was around 25-year-old Claudia Schmutzler, who plays the cheeky teen-age daughter. "Go Trabi Go" is her first film, and critics have suggested she has an appeal that could make her a star of the future.
As a girl growing up in East Germany, Miss Schmutzler took several real-life vacations in her family's Trabant. "Of course it's not so comfortable in the back seat, but it was a chance for the family to have an adventure together," she said. "In the West, people just fly from place to place. It's a very different feeling."
"Go Trabi Go" was made by Bavaria Films, the largest studio in Germany, for about $3 million. It is a trifling sum by Hollywood standards, but fairly expensive for a German film. No figures are yet available, but the film has already grossed much more than it cost to make.
Bavaria Films is a well-established Western studio, and Peter Timm, the director and screenwriter, is a native of the former West Germany. The producer, Reinhard Klooss, has lived in Munich for years but was born in the East.
"I was watching TV the night the wall fell, and I was fascinated by the thousands of Trabants pouring across," Mr. Klooss said in an interview. "I was instantly curious about who those people inside the Trabis were. What had they gone through? What were they really like?"
"Audiences have a very warm reaction to this film. It shows people from the East as good-humored, optimistic and happy with themselves. For a lot of people in the West, it's the first time they've had any glimpse into the way East Germans really are." So Much Stress Now
After the Chemnitz premiere, when the last autographs were signed, Mr. Klooss and his three stars climbed into their car -- not a Trabant -- and sped away. A man standing on a corner watched and waved.
"People ask if things are better now, since the reunification," he reflected. "What does 'better' mean? Sure, you can make real money now. But everything is so overwhelming. There's so much stress. In the old days we knew what to expect."
Few citizens of the former East Germany feel genuine nostalgia for the days of Communist rule. But many insist that life back then was not all bad. After all, they say with a smile, there was always the chance of getting a Trabi.
Photo: Probably no symbol of the former East Germany is as widely recognized and ridiculed as the Trabant, a car that is the real star of the German film "Go Trabi Go." The film's human stars are Wolfgang Stumph, at the wheel, Marie Gruber and Claudia Schmutzler, on the hood. Reinhard Klooss produced the film. (Axel Petermann for The New York Times)
I haven't seen this film yet, but it is available to buy on German Ebay ( Ebay.de) and I will review it at a later date. Apparently there's been a sequel to the original as the picture denotes.
Author's note: If you plan on buying this dvd, note at present there are no English subtitles on the menu, which I learnt to my cost!
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