One or the Other of Us is a 1974 West German film directed by Wolfgang Petersen. It was Petersen's first theatrical feature film, and was based on the novel of the same name by Horst Bosetzky, published anonymously under his pseudonym -ky. The film is a psychological thriller and focuses on the intense conflict between a university professor and a blackmailer. The film features Klaus Schwarzkopf and Jürgen Prochnow as the two main characters and won two Bundesfilmpreise. Ziegenthals , a failed student, makes ends meet as an academic ghost writer. By accident he discovers that the... respected professor of sociology, Rüdiger Kolczyk , has plagiarized his doctoral dissertation by translating the work of an American scholar. He decides to blackmail Kolczyk and to ask for 10,000 DM and additional monthly payments of 1,500 DM. Kolczyk initially agrees, but vows to Ziegenhals that "only one of us will survive". Looking for a way to fight back, Kolczyk tries to gather information about Ziegenhals from Miezi , a prostitute and a housemate and friend of Ziegenhals.
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| Directed by: | Wolfgang Petersen |
| Runtime: | 105 Minutes |
| Music by: | Klaus Doldinger |
| Screenplay by: | Manfred Purzer |
| Adapted from: | One or the Other of Us |