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Der Man von der Botschaft – Georgian Teenager Tryst
By Nina Moritz | August 12, 2008
Herbert Neumann (Burghardt Klaussner won the Golden Leopard in Locarno for his role) is an attaché at the German embassy in Tbilisi/Georgia in Dito Tsintsadze’s Der Man von der Botschaft (The Man from the Embassy) (2006). He spends his life between computer role-playing, a substitute for a family life, and an affair with his Georgian colleague Nana. His situation changes when he gets to know 12-year-old Sashka (splendid: Lika Martinova) who lives in a home for refugees.
While driving by in his car, he sees her running away from the guardians to whom he has brought her. On an impulse, he lets her jump into his car and drives off. They meet more often. In Sashka Neumann has found someone to take care of, although soon things will get dangerous, for nobody understands the friendship between these two different people. The theme of friendship of an unequal couple and the resulting problems is not unknown to us. The new aspect in The Man from the Embassy is its location in Georgia. This location has its consequences. It confines the friendship to actions, mimic, and other extra linguistic signs because Neumann doesn’t speak Georgian, nor does Sashka German.
The refugee home in which Sashka lives had been built with the help of the German Embassy. But even though its opening was celebrated with a reception, it hardly seems to be a place to live in by our standards. It contrasts with the diplomat’s life at the Embassy, as well as with the apartment of Herbert Neumann. When Sashka enters the apartment for the first time, we too view it differently after having seen Sashka’s home. As one imagines the life of an embassy attaché, Neumann lives in a golden cage. A recurrent image supports this impression – the grid-encircled terrace of his apartment. This motif, of Neumann sitting on his terrace, regularly marks a moment of quiet reflection before a decision is made. Here he sits before going to look for Sashka. Here he sits when Sashka has fled because she was frightened of him. And here he sits when he decides to take a few days off because of what’s happened and travels to Germany. Three important turns in the friendship.
The film not only shows the development of a friendship, but also the development of a young girl into womanhood. At first, Sashka looks quite skeptical when Neumann gives her a dress, but one evening she appears in the dress and proudly does a pirouette. As with unequal friendships, things get too complicated. Because they provoke rumors and reproaches, both have to defend their friendship. When Neumann decides to take a few days off and return to Germany, he brings Sashka back to the refugee home from his apartment, where she has been living. Sashka wears the dress like a status symbol, and Neumann gives her his game computer. The film ends with Sashka pirouetting in her dress – in front of a striking Georgian backdrop with a lake and gentle hills in the distance – as Neumann drives away. Well crafted by Dito Tsintsadze and sensitively rendered by Burghardt Klaussner and Lika Martinova in the lead roles, The Man from the Embassy was a hit at the 20th Braunschweig Filmfest, where Tsintsadze also presented his impressive Schussangst (Gun Shy) three years ago.
– Nina Moritz
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