The first film was released in 1991, shortly after the fall of the Wall. The first film explores the cultural differences between East Germans and western areas. Our main characters are taking a trip to Italy, of course in their Trabant. The second film is their return home to a changing Bitterfeld – this film was released in 1992. The opening scene is complete with tumbleweeds in a near ghosttown.
We hear some Sächsisch dialect, which may be interesting to explore. As the family goes through Bavaria, they stay with friends who speak with a slight Bavarian dialect, which could lead to a good observational discussion. The family is also introduced to western technologies, which would be interesting for our students to see today.
Some of the cast is still acting today and have been in big-name films. Wolfgang Stumph plays the father in this series. More recently, we’ve seen him in 100 Dinge, which stars Matthias Schweighöfer and Keinohrhasen, starring Til Schweiger. In fact, Go Trabi Go was his first film. Having been born in Poland, he typically plays in films about East Germany, or characters from there.
The mother in Go Trabi Go is played by Maria Gruber, who’s actually from West Germany, which explains why the daughter speaks more dialect than she does. Among her most famous projects are Das Leben der Anderen and The Reader.
Warnings/Things that may need to be skipped/edited, Go Trabi Go 1:
Only five minutes in, one of our main characters strips to her underwear, and she is wearing a thong. There are some short scenes of sexual innuendo surrounding her throughout the film, especially in the first half. Shadows of her showering are also visible, while she is being watched through a window. More importantly, about 26 minutes in, the family wakes up on an FKK beach, and we see several naked people wandering about, playing games, stripping, etc. The scene lasts for about 5 minutes. The parents end up having sex in the car about 54 minutes in. While nothing is visible, it’s obvious and may be inappropriate for many classes. The daughter’s breasts are clearly visible through her shirt about an hour in, and she wears this shirt for almost 10 minutes.
Warnings/Things that may need to be skipped/edited, Go Trabi Go :
Sexual innuendo is theme in this film as well, beginning around 13 minutes in. At around an hour in, they appear in a strip club, where women on wearing scandalous clothing and dancing erotically. Overall a much more appropriate film than the first, but less educational as well.
Just before my time teaching (I began in 2003), Go Trabi Go seemed to be every high school German teachers’ go-to film. While I see several educational aspects of this film, I can’t imagine taking the risk of playing it with the intent of skipping the questionable pieces, nor taking the time to edit everything out.