Reno
The In Kraut
The German film Anonyma - A Woman in Berlin, retitled The Downfall of Berlin for the DVD release. I read the book a couple of years ago and the film is a faithful adaptation. It's based on the diary of a female journalist who experienced Berlin's invasion by the Russians at the end of WWII, one result of which was the mass rape of German women. When the book was first published anonymously in the early 50s it was considered to bring shame on German women, but it became a best-seller in Germany when it got re-released in 2001 after the authors death.
This is a fantastic film and I'm surprised it didn't get a more high profile release. It's a big budget war film that is a perfect companion piece to Downfall, which shows what happened to ordinary Germans outside Hitler's bunker during and just after the same period in Berlin. It's easily as good as Downfall and in some ways it's a better film.
The film sounds depressing and it is grim at times, dealing with an aspect of war that has not really been dealt with much. While never trying to make an uplifting film out of a terrible situation, the film isn't as downbeat as it would seem. It does celebrate the spirit of the women who build tightly knit communities, while not demonising the Russians either. Eventually the women who survive even develop a sense of gallows humour to help them cope and they come to an uneasy truce with their captors, some choosing to become the kept women of high ranking Russian officers for protection.
The rapes are shown but aren't dwelled on and the film never feels exploitative. It doesn't white-wash the unnamed "heroine" either, an intelligent, highly educated woman whose faith in the Nazi regime only starts to crumble in the aftermath of war.
This is a fantastic film and I'm surprised it didn't get a more high profile release. It's a big budget war film that is a perfect companion piece to Downfall, which shows what happened to ordinary Germans outside Hitler's bunker during and just after the same period in Berlin. It's easily as good as Downfall and in some ways it's a better film.
The film sounds depressing and it is grim at times, dealing with an aspect of war that has not really been dealt with much. While never trying to make an uplifting film out of a terrible situation, the film isn't as downbeat as it would seem. It does celebrate the spirit of the women who build tightly knit communities, while not demonising the Russians either. Eventually the women who survive even develop a sense of gallows humour to help them cope and they come to an uneasy truce with their captors, some choosing to become the kept women of high ranking Russian officers for protection.
The rapes are shown but aren't dwelled on and the film never feels exploitative. It doesn't white-wash the unnamed "heroine" either, an intelligent, highly educated woman whose faith in the Nazi regime only starts to crumble in the aftermath of war.
