Plenzdorf, Ulrich (Berlin-Kreuzberg, 1934- ), studied philosophy at the Leipzig Franz Mehring Institute and, after working in the theatre and completing a year's military service, resumed studies at the Babelsberg Filmhochschule (1959-63). He then began work as producer and scriptwriter for the DEFA in Berlin. He is best known for Die neuen Leiden des jungen W. First conceived as a film script, it appeared in book form and as a stage play in 1972 (film version 1976). Skilful use is made of quotations from Goethe's epistolary novel Die Leiden des jungen Werthers to underline Edgar's emotional subjectivity. Edgar Wibeau, aged seventeen, is depicted in his relationship to society and to Charlie, a woman already engaged. The story opens after Edgar's death, by accident, on 24 December. The reconstruction of his life is partly based on tapes, which he has recorded for his friend Willy. He leaves his mother and his apprenticeship in the VEB factory in Mittenberg, and runs away to Berlin. The idea of constructing a hydraulic spraygun of his own invention is central to his urge for self-realization and may be seen as his individual contribution to industrial progress. He appears to have succeeded, but his equipment for testing his spraygun has the wrong voltage, as he is well aware. He nevertheless proceeds with the test and is electrocuted. There are indications that he might have intended to take his own life, an issue that is left open, partly because the portrayal of suicide was not favoured in the DDR, though the depiction of individualism had at the time of writing become a feature of DDR literature. The presentation of Edgar's problems is calculated to encourage a flexible assessment of one who faces isolation at a difficult stage of adolescence. Die Legende von Paul & Paula. Filmerzählung (1974) appeared as Legende vom Glück ohne Ende in 1979. Paul and Paula's belated fulfilment in love is short-lived. Paula dies after giving birth to a third child, the only one fathered by Paul, whose own life is finally ruined by an accident that leaves him paralysed from the waist down. The poignancy of Paula's tragedy derives from her knowledge that on medical grounds she is not likely to survive if she risks another pregnancy. Paul's accident bears some resemblance to Edgar's. Although social problems are raised, notably marriage, divorce, and careerism (Paul opts out of a promising position), the motivation of the plot lacks the control and conviction of the more widely discussed first work. In using teenage jargon and stylized colloquialism, Plenzdorf draws primarily on his experience as a scriptwriter. Gutenachtgeschichte was published in 1983, but his main activity consists of the adaptation of literary works for stage, radio, and film production, among them Glück im Hinterhaus (1976) after Buridans Esel, Freiheitsberaubung (1990), based on a story of that title, both works by G. de Bruyn, and Zeit der Wölfe, after a novel by Tschingis Aitmatow, published together with Ein Tag länger als ein Leben in 1990 Filme (2 vols.) appeared in 1988-9.

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