A Woman in Berlin (2009)

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A devastating tale that captures the aftermath horror of WW2 at the fall of Berlin.
Directed by Max Färberböck & based on the anonymous memoir of the same name--first published in English in 1954, and was republished in 2003, when it became a best-seller--it follows one woman's harrowing survival in Berlin at the close of World War II. At the time, late spring and early summer of 1945, the Soviet Union Red Army has pushed well into the city, heading toward the Reichstag. Berlin is in shambles, its streets bombed out, bodies frequently lying about, and the remaining inhabitants--mostly women and older men--left to fend for themselves. They run from one squat to the next, hide in cellars when tanks come down the street, and, in general, try not to do anything to get killed. As one remarks to another when hiding, "if the Russians treat them the way the Nazi army treated the Russians during its push into Russia, there won't be a German left at the war's end." And in that same desperate time of survival, for the women, that is the Red Army's men, who rape them without any fear of their officers punishing them. As in, when two female friends see each other on the street one day, the question they exchange is, "How often?"
The story centers around Anonyma...a wife of a Nazi officer, she is a former journalist who speaks French and Russian, has lived in Paris and London, and confesses at the movie's opening that she believed in what the German army was fighting for. Anonyma played by the German actress Nina Hoss delivers a masterfully significant performance. A woman faced with the choice of being subjected to rape by whomever, whenever, or giving herself to a high-ranking officer who might protect her, she chooses the latter, latching onto a major who manages to complicate her life even more.
The film doesn't reach a comparatively satisfying conclusion, it's only because it's so precisely focused on this brief moment in time toward a war's end when there are no rules, personal survival is paramount, and nobody is innocent.
This is a film that, for a whole generation, is most definitely not just a movie.

Recommended to Alky, Fortunato, NE, Doc & V.

>>: A

Sunds very interesting. I'll watch for it.

Its 3 Am where I live and i just got done watching Martyrs for the first time. I dont plan on sleeping......ever again. Just now getting into the French horror this was an Abosolutly incredible movie that will stay without doubt with me for the next couple of days. It was one of the first movies in a long time that had me squirming in my seat as if to try to protect myself for what im seeing. Once again it was an amazing movie but id like to hear anyone elses thoughts on it.

Halloween II (2009) No lack of hate here in other reviews, especially at IMDB. Not sure what the hubbub is cuz i liked it. Maybe it was a bit removed from the original franchise. If that is the main problemo then whatever. i think that Zombie has a style of his own, and a very artsy one at that. His kills are brutal and almost palpable. He seems to drift off into tangential forays of dreamlike psychosis, but that did not seem like filling screen time so much as hinting at the underlying motivations. In fact, i always appreciate a full two hour movie and think that the standard fare 90 minute flick is kinda a jip. The acting was fine, and i thought that there was enough character development to make us care about the main players. The cinematography was incredible. Of course i loved the direction. The story itself was pretty straightforward, but it's all in how it was told. Ashe.
d

My only real problem with the movie is that the girls were not martyrs. They were victims. So the whole premise of the movie is completely invalid. It's an interesting concept, but inherently flawed. But which would make people want to watch the movie more? Young attractive women getting brutally killed or death-fearing senior citizens choosing to be brutally murdered? To me the movie felt like it was trying to elevate itself past something like Hostel or Saw by having a "deeper meaning," but failed because said "deeper meaning" is just kludged onto a pretty typical torture porn script without any thought of the lack of logic behind it. Pretty good movie, but the script could have used quite a bit of work in my opinion.

After digesting it for what it was i agree. If they really wanted it to be about martyrdom they could has used some of the half hour or so of torture to dwell on it. Kinda seemed like they thought of it mid way throught the movie and just implemented it in. I think it could have been alot better if they actullay went fully with that idea instead of just briefly.

Just started watching it, so we'll see.

"Cry Wolf" 7/10

Wow, man. Sounds great.
I'll check it out as soon as possible for sure.

Friday the 13th pt 8 6/10

I have been on a Jason kick lately!