A Woman in Berlin (2008)

A woman tries to survive the invasion of Berlin by the Soviet troops during the last days of World War II.

Director:

Max Färberböck

Writers:

Max Färberböck, Marta Hillers (book) (as Anonyma)

Stars:

Nina Hoss, Evgeniy Sidikhin, Irm Hermann

1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Nina Hoss	...	Anonyma
Evgeniy Sidikhin	...	Major Andreij Rybkin
Irm Hermann	...	Witwe
Rüdiger Vogler	...	Eckhart
Ulrike Krumbiegel	...	Ilse Hoch
Rolf Kanies	...	Friedrich Hoch
Jördis Triebel	...	Bärbel Malthaus
Roman Gribkov	...	Anatol
Juliane Köhler	...	Elke
Samvel Muzhikyan	...	Andropov
Aleksandra Kulikova	...	Masha
Viktor Zhalsanov	...	asiatischer Rotarmist
Oleg Chernov	...	Erster Vergewaltiger
Eva Löbau	...	Frau Wendt
Anne Kanis	...	Flüchtlingsmädchen

Storyline

A nameless woman keeps a diary as the Russians invade Berlin in the spring of 1945. She is in her early 30s, a patriotic journalist with international credentials; her husband, Gerd, a writer, is an officer at the Russian front. She speaks Russian and, for a day or two after the invasion, keeps herself safe, but then the rapes begin. She resolves to control her fate and invites the attentions of a Russian major, Andreij Rybkin. He becomes her protector of sorts subject to pressures from his own fellow soldiers and officers. Dramas play out in the block of flats where she lives. Is she an amoral traitor? She asks, "How do we go on living?" And what of Gerd and her diary?

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Plot Keywords:

woman raped | raped by soldier | defeat of nazis | forced sexual contact | year 1945 | 

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Taglines:

World War II ends and her story begins...

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History | War

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Germany]

Country:

Germany Poland

Language:

German Russian Georgian

Release Date:

23 October 2008 (Germany)

Also Known As:

A Woman in Berlin

Filming Locations:

Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$12,439, 19 July 2009

Gross USA:

$294,014

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,863,939

Company Credits

Production Co:

Constantin Film, Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF), Tempus

Technical Specs

Runtime:

131 min 175 min (2 parts)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The autobiographical book, of the same name, and film, is based on the diary of its author, Anonyma (meaning "unnamed author"), which is set between the dates of 29th April 1945 to 22nd June 1945.

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Goofs

In the film it was announced that Germany had surrendered and the Russians broke into singing the anthem version that had been adopted somewhat in 1944 and known as the "Alexandrov version." However it had no lyrics until Stalin intervened. It is doubtful that war events would have permitted all soldiers to learn it because of the fierceness of the war. Most likely they would have broke into the chorus of the better known anthem which was known as "The Internationale."

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Quotes

Anonyma: [in German] Soldier! Why are you taking a woman against her will?

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Connections

Featured in History: Anonyma - Die Frauen von Berlin (2010)

User Reviews

Movie captures complexities of war

Although I was aware of the awesomeness of German cinema in the past decades, I was still pleasantly surprised by this film. The title of the movie implies a specific point of view - the plight of a woman trapped in Berlin during the last days of WW2. The movie is however far less black-and-white (metaphorically speaking, of course) than it could have been. It goes beyond a simplistic right/wrong attitude and instead puts the audience in a position to ponder how in a war atrocities escalate and feed on themselves in a typical "chicken and egg" problem. Even the fact that the book on which the movie is based was met with outrage when it was first published in the 50's is ultimately part of this chain.

There are more complex answers to why horrible things happen in a war, and in the world in general - and Europe has had its share of it - and this film manages to capture these complexities masterfully.