Synopsis:
This film chronicles the history of West Berlin from the end of the Second World War to the days following the building of the Wall on August 13, 1961, from the perspective of the leaders of the GDR. Director Karl Gass begins his film before the construction of the Wall. With montages of rare authentic images, Look at this City was intended to prove how important and necessary the closing of the border was for the preservation of the German Democratic Republic. The director provided an account of the political, social and ecological development from a communist perspective: the Eastern section of Berlin was portrayed as a city of peace, while the West was portrayed as a "front" city and "spearhead against the East." The source of constant disruptions, West Berlin could only be resisted by forcefully isolating it. The film argued that the GDR, with the creation of the Wall, would be able to secure the possibility of peace in Europe and throughout the world. Today, Look at this City remains a provocative and informative time-capsule from the Cold War. The film contains the caustic commentary of Karl-Eduard von Schnitzler, who later became the chief commentator on GDR television and manager of the agitation program "The Black Channel." At the same time, the film offers a series of strikingly witty and formally innovative satirical montages, which attempt to expose the Western ideas of freedom as mere chimeras.

Press Comments:
"This is dramaturgical work painted with large strokes, allowing the viewers ample time to digest the action. The music's psychological stimulation makes it much easier to intellectually grasp the subject matter. This film very clearly illustrates that a dramaturgically and psychologically correctly designed music montage is able to replace commentary, for the most part. In fact, it shows that such music can be much more effective than the spoken word." -- Christoph Funke in the Berlin Deutsche Filmkunst, 11/1962

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Fall of the Wall: Part 1-2, The	That Was the GDR – A History of the Other Germany 2-DVD set