Friendship

By Paul Wrobel & Chantal Franz

The German film production Friendship which appeared in 2010 tells the story of two friends who live in East Berlin. With the fall of the Berlin Wall the two friends Tom and Veit decide to go to San Francisco, USA. The idea of Veit is to travel to the most westerly part of the world. Tom is just as thrilled about the idea and both decide to go to America. Unfortunately, the friends do not have enough money to fly straight to San Francisco but they are only able to afford a flight to New York. From there they go through a lot of adventures to eventually arrive at San Francisco.

Later it turns out that Veit believes that his Dad who has fled from the DDR twelve years ago is supposed to live there but for our further analysis this part of the story will not play an important part. What is interesting is the idea of visiting the very West of America.

We have chosen this item because it relates to the notion of the American West as well as the desire of people from all over the world to go there. It appeared quite striking to us that the two friends are not satisfied by just going to West Germany but crave for absolute freedom and experiences in California which they believe will not get in BRD.

Although the movie takes places in 1989 the experiences of Tom and Veit are similar to what immigrants had to face about a hundred years ago. Willa Cather’s novel My Antonia reflects that well. The story starts with Jim entering the Great Plains and with his descriptions of the landscape being empty and alien. This is depicted throughout the movie several times when the two friends are crossing the country with a scenery showing a treeless, vast, and dry land. Believing that this was intentional by the producers of the movie, an illustration was created in order to demonstrate the huge differences between German and West American landscapes since this is rather unfamiliar for most Europeans.

Considering the expectations that immigrants bring along when coming to the U.S., the Shimerdas, for instance, have to cope with unexpected issues. Thinking they had enough money to start all over again they travel to Nebraska but by buying their own dugout which can barely be compared to a home, they are being deceived. That is when they first realize that the grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence. The first scene in Nebraska hints at further disappointments and frustrations in the rest of the novel.

Similar things happen to Tom and Veit immediately after their arrival at the airport as they pass security and have to undergo investigations due to their nationality because the police officers suppose they were Nazis. As a result, Tom’s and Veit’s expectancies of freedom and crossing boarders without restrictions are led down, which is the common thread of the movie.

Another theme in My Antonia is the language barrier towards the English-speaking community that Antonia and her family have in the beginning of the story. Consequently, this barrier leads to a separation and prejudices between the fluently English-speaking inhabitants and the immigrants with a different mother tongue whereas in the film the Germans’ lack of the English language entails many incidents that get them into trouble with the police. This goes along with cultural differences, too. For instants, Tom raps the American flag around his naked body in the presence of the police not knowing that he commits a crime in doing so.

Further parallels can be drawn when comparing the diversions that are offered both in the book and in the film. As for the novel, the younger folk attend dances regularly to associate with people and enjoy themselves. The equivalent about a hundred years later are home parties, dance and strip clubs as implied in the movie. Tom and Veit looked forward to these kinds of social events just like Antonia and her friends.

In conclusion, it is evident that even though almost a hundred years have passed between the publishing of the book and the film the basic ideas remain unchanged. While Willa Cather had experienced the American West herself, Friendship was produced by Germans which had no effects on its authenticity of the representation of the West that is due to the usage of the same discourses and notions the Germans applied in their production.

All in all, Friendship functions as a good example to show how American images have spread beyond its borders and found their way into the minds of many foreigners.