This Eastern European political drama (also known as "The Section") chronicles a woman who willingly and without question accepts the unjust punishment of her superiors. The film is set during the 1980s in an unnamed Eastern European country. The protagonist is Gizi Weiss, an attractive middle-aged office worker who suddenly finds herself "promoted" after another worker exchanges her new desk lamp for his old one. He tells her that she won't be needing it anymore. He is correct and her boss confirms this telling her that she is to be transferred to a new outpost where she will be heading a new "section." She is escorted to her new post by a man who also inspects her belongings. So remote is her new outpost, she must take a handcar to get to the trail that leads to the one room shack she will be calling home. There she meets her "co-worker," a man half-insane from his isolation. He will not talk to her. The irony is that Gizi has been so effectively indoctrinated that she does not realize she is being punished. She cheerfully accepts the injustice of her new, harsh existence.
by Sandra Brennan
synopsis
- Isolation
- Oppression
- Punishment
- Government
- Employer/employee
- Against-the-system
