Deutschland 83 textual analysis

Deutschland 83 Notes from the scenes

Scene 1- The garden/ BBQ scenes- one in East Germany and one in West Germany 
4:58-8:20 and 34:00-37:20

Technical codes- particularly mise-en-scene

East side-garden scene:

• Communism side.
• Family is very happy. Together.
• The lady smoking shows that it is once again communism area.
• Male and female are seen equal.
• Period drama: 1980s

- Clothing/Fashion.         -TV

• West German pop song played in East side:Youth culture- Soft power.
• Coffee that aunty gave to her sister was from West Germany.
• Western consumer goods: Nescafé.
• Austerity:food shortage shows the communism side one again.
• Gritty, run-down buildings 

-economic problems

• Drinking/Smoking seen normal.
• Handheld camera -Cinematography creates a sense of personal identity.
• Costume shows he is in the military.
• Does not engage politically with aunty.
• Most young people are not interested in politics.

West Side-BBQ scene:

• House is very big and bright colours.
• Professional attires.
• Wine/Food shows wealth and the prosperity in the west side.
• Privileged kids
• Privilige vs exploitation.
• Powerful in military.
• West: multicultural/multi-racial
• 360 degree camera movement

=surveillance, tension

Scene 2- Martin/Moritz first sees the West German supermarket

14:30-20:25 

• Point of view shop to suggest wealth when Chandelier is shown.
• Music is tense at the beginning.
• Clothes are western.
• Nostalgia.
• When he starts to run. Music speeds up.
• Bribery being shown.

Scene 3

• Fast pace helps the story move along.
• The long shot used gives the sense of the place and what is going on around the protagonist.
• Montage editing, jump cuts - compressed narrative /time
• Binary opposition
• Voice-over anchor what we are seeing to communicate with the audience more effectively.
• Non-diegetic sound (80s sound track being played)
• Intertextuality- James Bond- spy genre

Scene 4

• Heavy breathing (connoting heartbeat) built up tension- Non-diegetic.
• Facial expression tense.
• Close up made audience feel like they are in his position. 
• Foley sound.
• High shots almost made to look like surveillance
• Trough the blinds built up suspense- Voyeurism.
• Audience identification.