Synopsis
A woman tries to survive the invasion of Berlin by the Soviet troops during the last days of World War II.
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Cast
- Nina HossAnonyma
- Evgeniy SidikhinMajor Andreij Rybkin
- Juliane KöhlerElke
- August DiehlGerd
- Irm HermannWitwe
- Rüdiger VoglerEckhart
- Ulrike KrumbiegelIlse Hoch
- Isabell GerschkeLisbeth
- Rolf KaniesFriedrich Hoch
- Jördis TriebelBärbel Maltaus
Recommendations
- 100
The New York Times
That the film manages to be understated, calm and intelligent in spite of its wrenching subject matter is perhaps its most impressive accomplishment. In avoiding sensationalism, it feels very close to the truth. - 100
Los Angeles Times
It's intelligent, provocative and intensely dramatic. Its subject matter may be tough but it is as powerfully authentic as anyone could want. - 90
Salon
A distinctive achievement, a World War II movie unlike any other and one of the few films ever to address a topic that makes almost everyone want to look away: What happens to women in wartime. - 80
Village Voice
One of the best of a new breed of indigenous movies prying open the Pandora's box of German suffering in World War II, A Woman in Berlin takes on the mass rape of German women by victorious Russian soldiers entering the country in 1945. - 75
New York Post
A Woman in Berlin, which is based on an anonymously written memoir of the same name, serves also as a testimony to women who put men in their place. - 70
NPR
A Woman in Berlin doesn't justify retribution, but in such moments it does clarify the horrible logic of vengeance. - 60
Chicago Reader
Director Max Farberbock (Aimee & Jaguar) mainly avoids graphic depictions of sexual assault, but that only increases the tension in this austere, claustrophobic drama. - 50
The Hollywood Reporter
The film ends up relying on stating a basic situation over and over rather than developing any sort of dramatic story concerning recognizable human beings, at least until things get moving a little faster in its second hour.
