The Farewell

It is one of the last days of an exceptionally hot summer. Bertolt Brecht is about to leave his lakeside house among the tall birches in Brandenburg to return to Berlin for the upcoming theater season. Most of the women in his life are there: his wife Helene Weigel, daughter Barbara, the old lover Ruth Berlau, his latest flame, the nubile actress Kathe Reichel and the sensuous Isot Kilian, whose affections and body he shares with the rebel political activist Wolfgang Harich. They swim, write, eat, drink and philosophize about art, politics, the basic tenets of life - and throughout, the Stasi is there - lurking on the sidelines - waiting. Nostalgia and hope, jealousy and tenderness, betrayal and trust vie with one another during this final act of his life.