Gerhard Schröder - Schlage die Trommel

Gerhard Schröder was the last chancellor of Germany's Social Democratic Party (SPD). He was always controversial in his party. For some, he was an ego player and careerist; for others, he was a gifted campaigner and successful modernizer. It is undisputed that his popularity played a decisive role in winning power for the SPD in 1998. But what remained of the Red-Green project that ended so abruptly in 2005? The socalled "Agenda" reforms that created a low-pay, low-skill sector in the workforce? The "energy turnaround" that set Germany on its path to phase out nuclear energy? Did Schroeder contribute to the identity crisis that has haunted the SPD ever since? After Gerhard Schröder's defeat by Angela Merkel in 2005, the party has gone downhill and seems to have lost the power to attract a large portion of the electorate. What responsibility does the last SPD chancellor bear for this decline? How did the unprecedented "Agenda 2010" reform program come about in the first place? Torsten Körner's portrait explores these questions, delving deeply into Gerhard Schröder's biography as well as into the legacy of the Red-Green government from 1998 to 2005. The result is on the one hand an impressive portrait of a politician and at the same time a social-democratic family history. The film features Schröder himself as well as interviews with prominent members of Germany's and Europe's political elite, including as Sigmar Gabriel, Oskar Lafontaine, Franz Müntefering, Gesine Schwan, Renate Künast, Joschka Fischer, Jürgen Trittin, Otto Schily, Martin Schulz and Hubert Védrine. Also included is Schröder's forth wife, Soyeon Schröder-Kim.