Social protest has been part of human society going back to Paleolithic times when the first homo-protestapien complained "What, nuts and berries again?" The response was most likely either "Go out and kill something, then," or "Discover fire and I'll make a casserole." Admittedly, I loosely translate from the original "ogg," "ugh" and passionate grunting.

By the year 1968 the earth was awash with protesters (for good reason) who had developed protesting into an art form. The art form of choice was the protest song. From Arlo Guthrie to John Lennon, Country Joe McDonald to Marvin Gaye, Bob Dylan to The Plastic People of the Universe, Phil Ochs to Jimmy Cliff, the airwaves were filled with politically charged lyrics that stirred the souls of the youth of the world. Americans like to think they had a patent upon it but Eastern Europe was at the forefront of something other than Vietnam, their own social unrest.

WWII had been over for more than twenty years but there still were countries in upheaval. The Prague Spring had come to Czechoslovakia and led to another Communist invasion. Yugoslavia was beset with protests from ethnic Albanians in Kosovo and Western Macedonia that led to concessions that angered Serbians and Montenegrins. This caused not only a Serbian emigration from Kosovo but also further religious tensions as Macedonians created their own Orthodox Church and Muslim nationalism rose in Bosnia irritating Serbian churchmen. And, of course, the Cold War was in full swing in Germany with the Berlin Wall, just seven years old, still 21 years away from demolition. It is in the politically turbulent year of 1968 that "Fatherland," aka "Singing the Blues in Red" begins.

We meet protest singer-songwriter Klaus Drittemann (Gerulf Pannach, whose biography mirrors his character's) as he is interrogated by officials of the Stalinist-Communist East German government who look to convict him of crimes against the state and exile him. Drittemann (whose name translates from the German as "third man," make of that what you will) is a Marxist-socialist whose criticism leads to being denied to perform any longer and eventually, at the age of 40, gets him a one-way exit visa to West Germany and he leaves his son and an ex-wife behind.

Whereas some people may think that a good thing with the opportunity to make a living again and become a success in the west - there is already a record company waiting to sign him, Klaus does not. In his, and "Fatherland's" world view capitalism is just as terrifyingly corrupt as hard-line Communism. He is besieged as soon as he steps into the west, turned into a celebrity and faces a choice of signing his life away to the record company or maintaining his ethics. At his press conference in West Berlin he is asked a number of times about his father (Sigfrit Steiner) who was also a musician forced into exile back in the 1950s. When he opens a safe-deposit box in a bank there (the key to which was passed to him by his mother back in East Berlin) he discovers personal effects from his father that turn his life upside down. He now wants to find his father and with the assistance of Emma, a French-Dutch journalist (Fabienne Babe) who seems to be withholding information, he begins his journey and heads to England.

Though made mostly in Germany and in German, "Fatherland" is an English film. Written by Trevor Griffiths, who collaborated with Warren Beatty on "Reds", it was directed by Ken Loach who made a number of politically charged films in the 1980s that ran him afoul of the Conservative Margaret Thatcher government. That government influence extended to the film and television industries and Loach found it harder and harder to work in the UK. This film could be viewed as Loach's and Griffith's response. The dichotomy of Germany's two faces (materialistic consumerism v. slapstick communism) mirrors the divided Great Britain of the late 80s where Thatcher's Tory government of opportunists held sway over a divided Liberal party.

Loach eventually found partners in West Germany and France. "Fatherland" is as straightforward as good Rock ‘n Roll music, it doesn't pull many punches and delivers a philosophy of life that sounds pretty bleak here: "The man born to be hanged need not fear drowning. The ones that are ruled carry others; the ones who rule are carried by others. Any life is better than no life." But if I delivered these lines in context it would amount to a 'spoiler' and if "Fatherland" teaches anything it is that context is everything.

"Fatherland" has been released by Twilight Time as a limited edition (3,000 units) Blu-ray. The disc contains an isolated score track and an informational collector's booklet.

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