At the End of the Day (6/6)

At the End of the Day (6/6)

With Dunja on the mend, Falk pays her a visit accompanied by a lawyer. He threatens to have her declared incompetent following her suicide attempt if she does not cooperate with the Stasi. Dunja gives in and signs. As a reward, Gaucke dangles the prospect of promotion to Hans' position before Falk's eyes - as soon as Hans makes a mistake. Until then, he should solve "the Martin and Julia problem." But right now Falk has quite different concerns: his son Roman has failed a gymnastics exam. Falk uses his good contacts to get the boy into sports school none the less. When Martin learns Julia is expecting a child, he is beside himself with joy. He collects his last possessions from home and tells his father about the occupied flat and pregnancy. Hans promises to keep the secret. Dunja returns home. When her artist friends come to visit, she is plagued by her bad conscience at handing her friends over to the Stasi. She asks them to leave after only a short while. A call from the Stasi listening post in a nearby vehicle reminds her of her cooperation. Dunja is still trembling from the call when Julia comes in. Using pen and paper she tells her daughter what's going on. Upset, Julia tells her friend Moni about her contact with a West German journalist and her plans to tell him everything about the Stasi's blackmailing her mother. Moni warns her against the idea, it will only damage her mother. Then she reports Julia's plans to Falk. Now he really does have something to use against Julia and Martin. Martin and Julia have a row: fearing for her safety and that of the child, Martin forbids Julia to meet with the journalist. But it's precisely because of the child that Julia wants to change things. Martin flees to his parents' home. Hans warns his son against making the same mistake he once did: giving up his great love due to outside circumstances.

Taking its name from the locality in the then divided city that houses the notorious Stasi secret police-run Hohenschönhausen prison, the series tells of young police officer Martin, from a loyal Party family, who falls in love with the beautiful young and rebellious Julia, from a family of dissidents: a Romeo & Juliet saga of two lovers struggling against prejudices and the social and political odds.

Grimme Award 2016
German Screen Actors Award 2014
German TV Award 2011 for Best Series
Nominated for Prix Europa 2011  
The first 6 episodes to be screened at Museum of Modern Art (MoMa) New York in April 2011.

PRESS REVIEWS

• Family saga Weissensee recounts what life in East Germany was like, in a DALLAS style. (Der Spiegel, Sept. 13, 2010)
  
• Weissensee (...) is simply a well-made drama, which profits from a tight story arc, a superb cast and terrific set design. (Süddeutsche Zeitung, Sept. 14, 2010)
  
• Behind the surface story of two families in 1980s Socialist East Germany - replete with romance, intrigue and betrayal - a piece of real life emerges: authentic, dramatic. (Welt Online, Sept. 14, 2010)
  
• A courageous effort - which pays off handsomely. Beneath the soap opera plot, a complex web of desires and wishes emerges, of self-deception and patronizing. (Spiegel Online, Sept. 14, 2010)
  
• A highly original TV series. (Leipziger Volkszeitung, Sept. 6, 2010)
  
• Germany's biggest newspaper BILD headlined "The most spectacular TV series of the year." (Sept. 11, 2010)