DIE SCHÜTZES - LEBEN NACH DER WENDE 1990 BIS 2010

“Work like you’re in the GDR and get paid like you’re in the West? That’s not possible!” After German reunification the manager of the state greengrocer in Zschopau, Rolf Schütze, and his wife Karin want to do everything right: to invest in their own shop and get ahead of the game. There is an initial flurry of success but they soon learn that hard work, determination and audacity are not enough to make it in the long-awaited market economy. Still it takes a while before the irresponsible banks, corporate dominance and social isolation dent the Schützes’ faith in free-market capitalism. Their optimistic enthusiasm increasingly gives way to despondency. “There are feelings that you cannot suppress,” utters Schütze in a bitter moment. The film however helps to understand them.