The Cold Room (1984)

A girl who arrives in modern day East Germany begins reliving the horrifying events that happened to a young girl in 1936.

Director:

James Dearden

Writers:

Jeffrey Caine (novel), James Dearden

Stars:

George Segal, Amanda Pays, Renée Soutendijk

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
George Segal	...	Hugh Martin
Amanda Pays	...	Carla Martin / Christa Bruckner
Renée Soutendijk	...	Lili
Warren Clarke	...	Wilhelm Bruckner
Elizabeth Spriggs	...	Frau Hoffman
Clifford Rose	...	Moltke
Ursula Howells	...	Headmistress
George Pravda	...	The Doctor
Lucy Hornak	...	Sophie
Gertan Klauber	...	Older Nazi
Stuart Wolfe	...	Young Man
Wolf Rüdiger Reutermann	...	Customs Officer
Judith Melischek	...	Young Woman
Anthony Higgins	...	Erich

Storyline

Seventeen-year-old Carla arrives in East Berlin to spend the summer with her estrange historian father, Hugh. She stays in an old hotel that used to be a butcher shop. She soon gets the feeling that something is wrong with her room and that it used to be bigger somehow. There she discovers an old wardrobe with a mirror in it. When she sees an image of a young girl in the mirror instead of her own, she begins suffering from violent visions about the young butcher's daughter, who lived there during the 1930s and helped a Jewish dissident hide from Gestapo in the cold room of her father's shop. However, not only was her father a violent staunch Nazi supporter and Party member but he also raped her on nightly basis. Carla slowly loses the ability to separate these horrifying visions from reality and begins to fear her own father. Hugh tries to help her but things only get worse. Is Carla slowly losing her mind or are the visions trying to tell her something?

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Plot Keywords:

shame | stabbing | year 1984 | 1980s | 20th century | 

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Romance | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English German

Release Date:

24 March 1984 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Prisoner

Filming Locations:

East Berlin, Berlin, Germany

Company Credits

Production Co:

HBO Premiere Films, Jethro Films Production, Mark Forstater Productions Ltd.

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

A TV movie made for the HBO network.

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Goofs

Approximately 71 minutes into the movie, when Heir Bruckner (Warren Clarke) is driving his daughter, Christa (Amanda Pays), home after picking her up from Nazi Headquarters, they are obviously in a British car. Heir Bruckner is driving from the right-hand side of the car, not the left-hand side as it would be in Germany.

User Reviews

It'll leave you...um...cold

This was a made-for-cable affair, but is/was available on VHS. The main and overriding sense one gets in watching this film is, "Great Scott! Will somebody wake these people up?" Which is another way of saying it is boring and dreary. But more than that, it seems like the whole production is in some sort of funk. Start with George Segal. I'm a fan. He may be remembered to people now as the guy from "Just Shoot Me." But up until the early 80s, the guy was a capital-letters Movie Star, whose main asset was a sense of fun and vigor he brought into the various quirky roles he played. His star was fading when this was made and it is clear why. In THE COLD ROOM, he seems preoccupied, dazed, out of it. Just sad to see a once- vibrant person bring nothing to the table.

But he's not the only one. Pays (Mrs. Corbin Bernson), has little spark to her character. The whole plot involves people in present-day Germany, one of whom discovers a link to a past romance with a character from Germany's Nazi past. It might have helped if Pays (or anyone else) brought a little energy to the set. But since the whole thing is pretty lifeless, directed by the book, scripted with no surprises, etc...the "who cares" factor is high. The movie is inoffensive but seems almost intentionally boring. Like the people who made it wanted it to be quickly forgotten.