Writing
Dr. Grunert, electronics specialist from the GDR, gets a visit from an old acquaintance from war times. Both worked back then on navy torpedoes. His former colleague wants to poach Grunert – to Schenectady, the headquarters of the largest American electronics company. With alleged war crimes, he tries to blackmail Grunert, but quickly it becomes clear where the true criminals are sitting: In influential positions of the American industry. Grunert underestimates the scrupulousness of his opponent and invites him to a remotely located country home to clarify things. The Ministry for State Security is already on the trail of the matter and saves the engineer from a dangerous solo action.
The two-part film describes the unusual fate of a worker that was born out of wedlock in 1925 as a "bastard", as it was called at the time. Even though his birth was under a special star, his life is also full of ups and downs: gain and loss, victory and defeat, laughter and tears, all of this is always close together in Rando's life. And people from the most diverse backgrounds cross Rando's lifelines. Some are of good character and will help him, while others will throw a spanner in the works. But Rando is not the type to stumble; he masters any situation with vitality, irrepressible vigor and his proletarian instinct. Rando is often a wise man, but he is also often a fool -- those around him never know what to expect.
Irene Klaussen, a brilliant, tomboyish Berlin student, falls for new classmate Peter Lemke. To prove herself, she follows him, first to a school dance in a borrowed gown, then to a year’s stint on a remote oil‐plant construction in Granow. Ostracized at first, she wins respect under FDJ secretary Anton by mastering every trade and helping him study for engineering school. After returning to Berlin, she discovers Peter’s infidelity and, disillusioned, goes back to Granow, finding true partnership and purpose with Anton.
