The Legend of Paul and Paula 2
As a story about class differences, the film makes you empathize more with Paula. Paul’s character is not as likable as hers. At times, Paul comes off as arrogant and self-interested. At other times, he appears quite vulnerable. His character is the one with the status too lose because Paula’s position as a single mother makes her more vulnerable to the biases of society.
When the film was first released, it drew about 3 million people into the theatres, which is remarkable considering the population of East Germany stood at only about 17 million at the time. Since then, Paula und Paula have achieved cult movie status and it is considered one of the most widely known films of the former GDR. Yet, it was almost never released.
GDR Council of State Chairman, Erich Honecker elected not to submit the film to the state’s highest channels of media censorship. The film was only shown briefly in East Germany and although it had attracted such large audiences, the press remained surprisingly quiet on the subject.
"We have not been spoiled with moving love stories in the cinema. Therefore my unconditional praise for this treatment of the love theme. I am all for talking about love in the appropriate sensual terms rather than having the topic rhetorically exhausted." -- Fred Gehler in the Berlin Sonntag of 22.04.1973
"Heiner Carow directed this 'legend' - a word already suggesting a detached approach to East Berlin reality - in an imaginative and easy-going way, placing it between reality and imagination." -- Volker Baer in the Berlin Tagesspiegel of 18.04.1973
See Also
Dolling, Irene. “"We All Love Paula but Paul Is More Important to Us": Constructing a "Socialist Person" Using the "Femininity" of a Working Woman.” New German Critique 82 East German Film (Winter, 2001): 77-90.
Milfull, John. “What was different about the German Democratic Republic?” Australian Journal of Politics & History 48.65 (March 2002). Available online
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