Werner Klein

"Busch singt" consists of 6 films "About the first part of our century" and does not present Ernst Busch only as a singer but is a film with and about Busch as a chronicler and fighter for communist ideals of his time. Konrad Wolf died during the production, he directed part 3 "1935 oder Das Faß der Pandora" and part 5 "Ein Toter auf Urlaub".

Herder Pagwa lives in a hut in a valley of beautiful flowers, where he hoards a mysterious chest whose secret is not revealed even to his three sons. The elder two believe that the chest is filled with gold and precious stones, so they break it open. From then on, water floods the valley, the earth withers and the people and animals start dying of thirst. The youngest son seeks out the wise Arat to ask for advice.

Berlin, early 1930s. Lissy, a young woman raised in a socialist working-class family, marries a clerk who promises her a better life. During the depression, however, he gets fired and can’t find a new job. Desperate for companionship and money, he falls for Nazi propaganda and joins the Storm Troopers. Lissy's brother, who for a time sympathized with the communists, now also wears the SA uniform. When he is killed by the Nazis—because of hisoppositional ideas—Lissy starts questioning things and makes a difficult and potentially dangerous decision.

Lifelong hard work for the count makes the servant Anton a cripple. Everybody calls him Crooked Anton. When, after the end of the war, the land of the count gets divided amongst the farmers, Anton receives a piece and hopes to be able to work freely. But an old debt and intrigue keep Anton and his family from finding peace. The farmers of the village begin to discover their own power when Annegret, Anton's daughter, leaves. Is a new beginning possible for Anton? This film paints an impressive panorama of the development of a minor village in Mecklenburg from the end of the war to the uprising of 17 June 1953.