A film essay investigating the question of what âthe Westâ means beyond the cardinal direction: a model of society inscribed itself in the Federal Republic of Germanyâs postwar history and architecture. The narrator shifts among reflections on modern architecture and property relations, detailed scenes from childhood, and a passed-down memory of a âhemmed-in West Germany,â recalling the years of her parentsâ membership in a 1970s communist splinter group.