The story takes place in East Germany in 1980. In a remote town near the Baltic Sea, female doctor Barbara was sentenced for smuggling to West Germany and was exiled here after she was released from prison. Here she remains closely monitored, with police routinely searching her home and even conducting a thorough physical examination. But with the help of her boyfriend, she never gave up her efforts to smuggle. Another line of the story is her work in the clinic. Andre, the male colleague, is active and enthusiastic in her work, treats people kindly and kindly, and takes good care of her, making her feel a touch of warmth in the cold world.
The story of the film is simple and old-fashioned, the narrative is flat and indifferent, the tone is natural and cold, and the dialogue in the film is not much, and there are often large scenes of silent characters and scenery. But under this calm picture, there are turbulent undercurrents, fear, hatred, resistance, warmth, compassion, and yearning. These inner things, expressed through Barbara's delicate expression, through her lingering cigarette smoke, through the woods and grasses that are skimmed by the strong winds (the high winds every afternoon are typical of the northern coast of Germany), Expressed through the tidal waves and waves of the Baltic Sea in the dark.
At the end of the film, in order to rescue a little girl who escaped from the labor camp, Barbara left the only opportunity to smuggle that she had planned for many days to others. The raft carried the little girl to the free world. Pull calmly turned around and pushed the bike back to his life. It is impossible for her to know that in 10 years, the Berlin Wall that blocks freedom and humanity will be torn down. What kind of courage she will have to face the long, dark and humiliating days in the future. Whether the lit noble and human candle can burn is the reverie and hope that the film leaves us.
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