Wolves of Berlin

Wolves of Berlin

No War or Wall will divide them

Part I: Nothing Will Ever Divide Us
1948. World War II has left Berlin in ruins, cut into four sectors, crisscrossed with borders, subjected to curfews, blackouts and blockades. Anything is turned into currency, from sex to cigarettes, chocolate to family jewels. Under the constant drone of the Berlin Airlift's "raisin bombers," a group of teens form a clique, called the "wolves," who swear eternal friendship. Each of them has been marked by the war in a different way. Bernd is a wheeler dealer who's afraid of nothing; Jakob, a Jew, survived the Holocaust and now damn well intends to survive post-war Germany. Both are fighting over the heart of the ravishing Lotte, dreaming of a career as a singer. Completing the circle are the sassy, life-loving Silke, a budding Socialist, Kurt, who's got a big mouth and a big heart, and Ralf, Lotte's resilient kid brother. Six young people fending for themselves through smuggling, defending themselves against vicious thugs, and always true to their rallying cry "Nothing will ever divide us."

Part II: Shattered City
1961. Bernd, who now runs a flourishing transport company, proposes to Lotte, who is taking voice lessons and hopes to study in Moscow. But Lotte really loves Jakob, who now teaches math at an East-Berlin university. Their rivalry puts the friendship of the two young men to the test, and appears to destroy it... Meanwhile, the communistic East-German (GDR) authorities have quickly and stealthily put up the Berlin Wall. Lotte, Ralf and Jakob are caught in the Soviet sector. In his usual blustery manner, Bernd promises to get them out - and his daring exploit nearly succeeds. Lotte makes it to West Berlin, but Ralf is killed, and Jakob captured. Silke, who works at the GDR Television and has always loved Jakob, gets the feared East-German State Police - the Stasi - to cut Jakob a deal: no jail if he works for the Stasi developing software for the GDR's budding computer industry. He agrees, assumes a new identity - and marries Silke. His friends in the West are notified that he is dead...

Part III: Hope for Happiness
1989. In West Berlin, Lotte and Bernd are married and lead a comfortable life thanks to Bernd's shrewdness and the help of Kurt, who's now a politician. Lotte, however, is still coping with the deaths of Jakob and Ralf, which she attributes to Silke. In East Berlin Jakob works for the Stasi, and his wife Silke, who has grown critical of the GDR regime, is still with the state broadcaster. Both couples have children, and two of them cross paths: Miriam, the West Berliner, and Thomas, the East Berliner, fall in love in Hungary in the summer of '89, as East Germans are fleeing their country in droves and openly protesting against the regime. When Hungary opens its borders, Thomas escapes and finds Miriam. By the time the two decide to marry, the Wall has fallen, and Thomas' parents come to the wedding ceremony, where they see Bernd and Lotte again for the first time in nearly 30 years. The "wolves" are reunited ? but the misunderstandings have taken their toll and the one-time friends must be cautiously led together, like the two parts of their once-divided nation...