Banale Tage

East Berlin, 1978. Thomas is an apprentice toolmaker, Michael is a high school student. Thomas’ father is a labourer, while Michael’s is a dramatic consultant at the Volksbühne theatre. The two teenagers are at odds with their fathers and authorities like the foreman and the school principal. They rebel against the paternalistic system that gives young people no room to develop, and demands conformity. When Michael’s father pronounces a play to be “subversive” and it actually turns out to denounce youth culture, Thomas protests openly. That brings the East German secret police, the Stasi, into play. (Berlinale)