Synopsis
As Erich Honecker’s “crown prince,” Egon Krenz rose through the ranks of the SED; eventually, he became head of state of the GDR. However, he led the country for only 50 days; after reunification, he was sentenced to six and a half years in prison for his shared responsibility for the deaths of those who died trying to cross the Berlin Wall. Since his release in 2003, he has lived in Dierhagen on the Baltic Sea.
Official, rising star, apparatchik, bigwig, figure of hatred, thug, prisoner, father, and grandfather—who is Egon Krenz at the end of his life? In COMMUNIST, director Lutz Pehnert traces the man’s rise and fall and examines his political decisions in the context of the Cold War. At the same time, the film offers a fresh perspective on the decline of the GDR and on the paths taken by the people who grew up under that system.
