Gefährliche Orte (Tetralogie)

Bombenwerfer, Gefährlicher Ort, Soldaten Soldaten and Der Fluss form a series of four short films that were given a clear thematic and stylistic identity by Elfi Mikesch. With the exception of Der Fluss, the films have been shot by Mikesch herself in idiosyncratic and expressionistic black & white. In the four different films she used the same actors and – that may be the most important thing – she shot on locations with similar moods and background. She looked for landscapes that still bear the marks of World War Two and found them primarily in East Germany, where the withdrawal of the Red Army made military areas and complexes public again. Soldaten Soldaten is set in a deserted barracks, a place that comprises an invisible museum that is made visible by Mikesch: using the derelict architecture, she focuses on the craftsman-like side of war-making. In Gefährlicher Ort a family that lives on the edge of a village receives a visit on a hot Sunday afternoon. In the nearby old factory, chemical weapons were made during the war. The place has a poisonous effect on family life. Bombenwerfer is located on a former military aerodrome. A father who did not return tells his son about the war in letters. Der Fluss has a slightly different style – the film is in colour and is shot by Eberhard Geick – but the thematic relationship is pursued: children discover traces of the war in a deserted river landscape.