A Woman In Berlin

I saw the movie "A Woman in Berlin" over the weekend and it left quite an impression on me. It's interesting because it is yet another aspect to this horrible war. It is based on a published diary that was written anonymously by a former journalist and photographer who was one of thousands of women raped in Berlin in the wake of the 1945 Red Army invasion. Anonyma was one of the few German women to report on the rapes and the ways in which the women succeeded in surviving, often by aligning themselves sexually with a "protector." The book was denounced and virtually banned upon its publication in Germany in 1959, five years after its appearance in an English translation, and its author, known only as "Anonyma," vowed it would only be republished after her death.

The director Max Färberböck does a good job of depicting bombed-out Berlin at that time and I think Nina Hoss who plays Anonyma does a wonderful job portraying the woman trying to survive under the given circumstances. I loved all the characters that are part of the movie, from the Russian major to the other occupants in the main building. Well acted and beautifully shot. Oh and you'll recognize a few actors from Tarantinos new movie "Inglorious Basterds".