ow to out-Bergman Bergman: a lesson from the DDR. Leading names of the day explore problems with marriage, illuminated by austerely beautiful photography. The strange bleakness contrasts with the often harsh and eccentric but essentially wholesome outlook of typical East German cinema. Indeed both director and writer Klaus Poche earned more than frowns of disapproval from their respective professional bodies. A successful urban couple (one small child, she still young, he already on medication) decide not to waste the bleak autumnal weather and take a trip in the family Skoda to a cottage in the countryside. On the way they pass a road accident straight out of Godard’s Weekend (there’s something about a Trabbie on its roof that’s just too sad for words). The outdoor holiday only seems to emphasise the claustrophobia of family life. Back from a washed-out excursion they hitch a lift on a lorry, she in the front with the handsome young driver while husband and son ride on the back with the load. Nothing seems to augur well for the future of this marriage.