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A Woman in Berlin(Anonyma - Eine Frau in Berlin)

✭ ✭ ✭ ✭   Read critic reviews

Germany, Poland · 2008
2h 11m
Director Max Färberböck
Starring Nina Hoss, Evgeniy Sidikhin, Juliane Köhler, August Diehl
Genre Drama, War, History

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.

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What are critics saying?

50

The Hollywood Reporter by

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.

100

The New York Times by A.O. Scott

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.

60

Chicago Reader by Andrea Gronvall

Director Max Farberbock (Aimee & Jaguar) mainly avoids graphic depictions of sexual assault, but that only increases the tension in this austere, claustrophobic drama.

90

Salon by Andrew O'Hehir

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.

40

New York Daily News by Elizabeth Weitzman

Unfortunately, Färberböck never gives us reason enough to sit through such unremitting punishment. Though the story is based in truth, an emotionally removed Hoss feels more like a symbol than an actual person, while her detached narration keeps us at further remove.

100

Los Angeles Times by Kenneth Turan

It's intelligent, provocative and intensely dramatic. Its subject matter may be tough but it is as powerfully authentic as anyone could want.

70

NPR by Mark Jenkins

A Woman in Berlin doesn't justify retribution, but in such moments it does clarify the horrible logic of vengeance.

75

New York Post by V.A. Musetto

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.

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