THE END OF THE FAIRY TALE? CHRISTIAN PETZOLD'S BARBARA AND THE DIFFICULTIES OF INTERPRETATION*

Abstract

When Christian Petzold's Barbara appeared in 2012 it was received as a new departure in both Petzold's work and in representations of the former GDR. The film was understood first and foremost as a love story, and this, together with the provincial setting and bright colour palette, lent an unaccustomed warmth to the image of the GDR. This article presents a close reading of the film to demonstrate that Petzold's plot deconstructs the victim / perpetrator binary that underlies paradigmatic representations of the GDR, notably Das Leben der Anderen (2006). This creates a more nuanced image of the former socialist state which challenges the dominant discourse. It further argues that Petzold underpins this surface with a dense matrix of cultural allusions designed to draw the audience into the characters’ coded language. This enables the audience to empathise with the characters’ difficulties in communicating with one another and to experience viscerally what it was to live in an atmosphere characterised by such mistrust. However, these same cultural allusions say more than the characters intend; they also allow Petzold to communicate directly with the audience, posing deeper questions about our own interpretative strategies and the possibility of fully understanding the GDR.