Under the Pavement Lies the Strand

Under the Pavement Lies the Strand is a 1975 West German black and white drama film directed by Helma Sanders-Brahms. This low-budget film was her first feature film. Prior to making the film, Sanders-Brahms had little to no distinct contact with the women's rights movement.

Plot

The film deals with the aftermath of the 1968 student rebellions in Germany as experienced by two fervent participants. Though the country experienced sweeping reforms in the years following, two radicals-turned-successful Berlin stage actors and lovers grapple with their growing insignificance and the demands of adulthood. After a night of intense debate about the past and their future, the couple begins garnering support to fight a new abortion bill. However, their rekindled zeal is complicated by an unexpected pregnancy.

Cast

Grischa Huber as Grischa
Heinrich Giskes as Heinrich
Ursula von Berg as Berlin Woman
Gesine Strempel as Berlin Woman
Traute Klier-Siebert as Berlin Woman
Barbara Finkenstädt as Berlin Woman
Heinz Hoenig
Günter Lampe

Release

The film was released on DVD by Facets Multi-Media in 2008.

Reception

Wendy Ellen Everett and Axel Goodbody, editors of Revisiting Space: Space and Place in European Cinema, said that it "became a cult film in the German feminist movement." The film's main actress and actor won the Deutscher Filmpreis in 1975 and it was called one of Sanders-Brahms' best films by Salon critic Andrew O'Hehir. PopMatters critic Stuart Henderson referred to the film as a "revelation" and "fascinating and important film." The Philadelphia City Paper stated that the film was "hailed as a cult film for the feminist movement."