Ročník 21 (German title: Jahrgang 21, English title: Those Born in 21) is a Czechoslovak-East German film directed by Václav Gajer. It was released in 1958 one year after its production.
Premise Honzík, a young Czech, falls in love with Käthe, a German nurse, during his time as a forced labourer in Germany.
Cast Luděk Munzar, Honzík Eva Kotthaus, Käthe Stanislav Fischer, Mirek Herbert Körbs Jaroslava Tvrzníková
Production The film is an adaptation of Ročník jedenadvacet, a 1953 Czech novel by Karel Ptáčník.
Ročník 21's original official distributor presented it as follows:
"The film was created in cooperation between the Barrandov Film Studio and the East German studio DEFA as one of [Czech film industry] first international co-productions. It was filmed partly in the original exteriors of bombed-out Dresden."
Release Ročník 21 premiered on February, 2 1958.
Reception Audiences' response in East Germany is said to have been "reserved" but "Walter Ulbricht praised the movie".
Ročník 21 has been described as "having captured the fate of a generation". "This romance filmed in the austere style of Italian neo-realism, without idealisation and pathos of Gajer's previous films, portrays the stories of Czech boys taken to Germany where they become forced workers."
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