Euch werd ich's zeigen
(1972)

Country: East Germany

Genre: Coming of Age, Drama, Sports

Synopsis

13-year-old Bernd (Friedhelm Barck) moves with his parents to the small town of Fichtenhainigen, where he makes friends with his new classmate Doris, whose father is a coach in the local judo association and invites Bernd to training. Bernd proves to be a capable athlete, but his parents, doubting his commitment, refuse to sign the consent form enabling him to continue. When, however, Bernd is embarrassed in front of his new classmates by his inability to dive off a 10-metre board, he resolves to show the others that he is not lacking in physical courage by continuing with judo, forging his father's signature on the consent form to do so. He finds a way of earning his own money, and saves up to buy a judo kit. He also makes friends with two other boys in his class, Schreier and Rolli. Finally, as a result of his hard work and talent, he is chosen to represent his club at a competitive event. What will happen, though, when his parents and his coach discover that he hasn't been entirely honest with them?

Notes

• The title of this film is German for "I'll show you".
• Produced by DEFA (the state-owned film studio of the Communist GDR - the German Democratic Republic)
• The Profile picture on this page shows the Romanian poster for this film.
• Friedhelm Barck, who played the protagonist in this film, was a judo enthusiast in real life. He had begun judo in 1966, and won the gold medal in the national Spartakiad (Children's section) in 1970. Later on, after gaining his doctorate, Barck went on to teach "Theory and Practice of Sporting Movements (Combat and Water Sports)" at the University of Rostock.