Under the Pavement Lies the Strand

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 are grappling 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 soon complicated by an unexpected pregnancy.

Cast

Release

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

Reception

Wendy Ellen Everett and Axel Goodbody, the editors of Revisiting Space: Space and Place in European Cinema, wrote that this film "became a cult film in the German feminist movement." The film's main actress and actor won the Deutscher Filmpreis (Filmband in Gold) in 1975 and it was recently called one of Sanders-Brahms' best films by Salon critic Andrew O'Hehir. PopMatters critic Stuart Henderson has also referred to the film as a "revelation" and a "fascinating and important film." The Philadelphia City Paper stated that the film was "hailed" as a "cult film for the feminist movement" and noted that it is still being screened in repertory cinemas and it has also been called a "film still of vital interest."