An example of the editorial policy of Das kleine Fern¡sehspiel to give novice film-makers a chance to express them¡selves in drama about specific social or political topics.Solomun’s small and melancholy feature is set against the background of the withdrawal of the Red Army from the GDR. Alexei is the little son of a Russian officer who grows up isolated in the barracks. He wants to taste freedom and receives music lessons from the German girl Sabine, who cam play the accordion with beautifully sadness. But their friendship is impossible – and symbolic of the new – and more difficult – relationship between the former East and West.The cameraman Slawodir Idziak, well known from Kieslowski’s films, provides a significant contribution to the melancholy that hangs over the grey and authentic locations.
