''Fatherland'' (released as ''Singing the Blues in Red'' in the US) is a 1986 film about a German singer-songwriter, directed by

Ken Loach Kenneth Charles Loach (born 17 June 1936) is a British film director and screenwriter. His socially critical directing style and socialist ideals are evident in his film treatment of social issues such as poverty ('' Poor Cow'', 1967), homelessn ...

and starring , ,

Cristine Rose Cristine Sue Rose (born January 31, 1951), sometimes credited as Christine Rose, is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Angela Petrelli on the hit NBC science fiction drama '' Heroes''. Early life Rose was born in Lynwood ...

and

Sigfrit Steiner Sigfrit Steiner (31 October 1906 – 21 March 1988) was a Swiss actor. His first stage performance was in 1928 in Gera. He performed in more than one hundred films. He was married to journalist and author Anne Rose Katz. Selected filmography ...

Production

The budget was £884,000. The film is one of Loach's least-popular films, being referred to as "a heavy-handed and absurd political drama" in

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...

's newspaper ''The Tech'' and Loach said in a 2016 Guardian interview that he "made a mess" of the film. As the film was partly in German, its audience was limited in English-speaking countries. Between its cinematic release and the 2013 DVD release, the film was rare. The film was partly financed by the German television broadcaster

ZDF ZDF (, short for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen; ; "Second German Television") is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is run as an independent nonprofit institution, which was founded by all fe ...

. When the film was broadcast, they cut the scene in which Gerulf Pannach attacks a Christian Democrat politician for his fascist past. Loach said in an interview, "It was ironic that they should cut the only decent scene in the film."

References

External links

* 1986 drama films 1986 films Films directed by Ken Loach British drama films Films set in Berlin Films set in East Germany Films set in West Germany 1980s English-language films 1980s British films {{1980s-UK-film-stub