East German art smuggling meets CIA espionage — capitalism and communism doing crime together.
The director of an art museum in Thuringia and an art dealer from Constance entered into an extremely lucrative business relationship. Director Trützschler illegally supplies Ms. Münzenberg with valuable works of art, which she smuggles into West Germany through an intermediary, abusing the transit routes. The business flourishes until they both fall into the CIA's intricate web. They are put under pressure and used to recruit a scientist from Jena. Will the GDR security forces succeed in thwarting the CIA's espionage operation...?
Production
Authentic DEFA studio craft — glossy surfaces masking ideological rot.
Acting
Marion van de Kamp's ice-cool dealer steals every frame.
Director
Edgar Kaufmann
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
DEFA's late-period thrillers often smuggled Western genre pleasures past censors while technically condemning them — this walks that razor's edge.
Director Edgar Kaufmann was primarily a TV director; this theatrical release was an anomaly that disappeared quickly from circulation.
XG
