Synopsis:
A young married couple - both of them actors - work in the divided city of Berlin. Agnes is on location in East Berlin, and Jochen, her husband, works at the Westend Theater in West Berlin. This marriage is in danger of breaking up as they vehemently defend their diametrically opposed views on politics, art, and the responsibility of the individual to society. Agnes, for example, is proud of the film she is appearing in, but Jochen forcefully rejects the film as propaganda (a criticism aimed at Story of a Young Couple as well). They split up. Agnes moves to East Berlin, volunteers to support the efforts of building socialism, and they file for divorce. When the two see each other again in court, however, they resolve their differences in Hollywood fashion. Filmed early in the Cold War, The Story of a Young Couple describes the cultural and political situation in Berlin between 1946 and 1950. Numerous authentic figures of German culture and politics were portrayed, such as the film director Veit Harlan, known for the notorious Nazi propaganda film Jud Süss, and a famous West Berlin theater director Boleslaw Barlog. Memorable in this film is the documentary footage of the construction of Stalin Allee, the biggest street built in East Berlin after the Second World War. This film is a shining example of how East German culture conformed to Stalinist politics.

Press Comments:
"The film makes us sit up and take notice - and we are pleased to see a film with such sound, humane groundwork. At last, a film which attempts to derive its political and educational effect in a legitimate, original artistic manner and from character development, the personal conflicts and decisions taken by the characters." -- Hans Ulrich Eylau in the Berliner Zeitung of 22.01.1952

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