Documentary
Germany 1966
16 mm
17 min
B/W

Crew

Buch und Regie
Ula Stöckl
Kamera
Peter Reimer
Ton
Horst Becker
Produktion
Radio Bremen

Contents
What do high school girls do on a Saturday at 5 pm? This piece outlines how 18 year-old imagine future happiness.

The Film

Saturday at 5 P.M. begins with the following question on the soundtrack and on the screen: "What do young people do in their country at 5pm on a Saturday?" This gives a hint of the fragmentary nature of the film, which portrays high-school girls in Munich. In a mixture of close-ups which slowly zoom out, and wide shots which zoom in, Stöckl discovers the details of the girls' behavior and presents an impression of how an entire generation of women views itself. Finger tips tug nervously on tablecloths, while wooden sentences are emitted out of mouths frozen in a fixed smile for the camera. The mention of the word "Rendezvous" is accompanied by embarrassed giggles. The static hierarchy within a West-German family of who sits where on the couch, throws a light on the origins of female feelings of subordination. The real strength of Saturday at 5 P.M. goes much further than just its supposed theme. It recognizes and reveals structural characteristics of reality. The pictures contradict the sound, whilst the camera searches for flaws in the smooth surface, so that it can look inside.
Daniela Sannwald, Anschauung und Begriff 1995
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