the Architects

German drama studies the communist regime in the former East Germany through the eyes of an architect. A talented young architect in East Berlin before the collapse of the Berlin wall is charged with designing a small suburb. He dreams up a beautifully futuristic and accomplished design with a lightness of character perhaps out of step with the prevalent greyness of the times. Getting approval from dour city planners and against other competitors saps his enthusiasm and forces the progressively-minded designer into creeping disillusionment with the regime. Through his immersion in his plans, his marriage dissolves and furthermore the bureaucrats' callous dismissal of his plans conspire to push him down as far as a man can go.