LouHomey From my favorite movies..

Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews

Matylda Swan It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

Jenni Devyn Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de) "Anonyma - Eine Frau in Berlin" or "Anonyma - A Woman in Berlin" is a German film that tuns for over 2 hours and was written and directed by Max Färberböck almost 10 years ago, the man who was also in charge of German Golden Globe nominee "Aimée & Jaguar" another decade earlier. And just like that one, we also have mostly strong female characters in this movie here and there is again a World War II background. Unfortunately, I personally did not feel as if there was anything really new here, anything that has not been done already in this uncountable number of (German) films centered around the days of war.And my appreciation for lead actress Nina Hoss goes south pretty quickly too. While I initially enjoyed her the first couple times I saw her, I must say by now she does not bring any new nuances to the characters she plays and it is almost always the exact same we see from her in terms of mannerisms and details. She may be good in picking characters that fit her, but there is really nothing that makes a difference in her performances anymore really. It surprises me to see she is one of Germany's most famous in the United States at this point. There are more deserving actresses out there. The cast here features some more well-known names such as Jördis Triebel, Juliane Köhler, August Diehl, Sandra Hüller and Sebastian Urzendowsky, who I still cannot see an ounce of talent in.Finally, I want to say that I do not recommend seeing this film. The rating here on IMDb is certainly way too high. It is not a bad film by any means and there are some fine scenes that stay memorable, but it just isn't enough for a runtime over 130 minutes. And honestly I must say, as hard as Färberböck tried, eventually I did not really care for any of the characters or women in this film and how their fate evolved while events unfolded. Thumbs down. There are many superior German films about World War II. The music in here is nice, but it's also not original, so no credit to the makers from this movie other than for chossing it.

Rich Wright What, Germany was invaded by Russian troops during the last few months of World War II, and the men were beaten, the women were raped and everyone had their property stolen by these shameless Ruskies? It's true... you learn something new everyday. Some might be tempted to say the Germans were getting a taste of their own medicine... until you realise not EVERYONE voted for Hitler or believed in his ideals, so why should they suffer? I guess 1939-1945 really was the most difficult era to live in ever, regardless of what nationality you were.Into this mix arrives a German journalist who came home to witness the final days of the fighting... and ends up slap, bang in the middle of the upheaval. A virtual prisoner in her own house, and regularly abused by ugly Russian troops, she nevertheless attracts the attention of the local Soviet battalion leader. They start a romantic relationship, which is complicated by their different beliefs and stations in life. This whole production is a true story based on a book written by the reporter in 1960, who due to the outrage and being called a 'traitor', has remained anonymous to this day.Alas, watching creepy, unattractive men forcibly getting into the knickers of innocent ladies is not very pleasant viewing, and for too long the focus lingers on the tiresome activities of these abusers. When the central pairing eventually get together, it feels more at the behest of the writer than any other tangible reason, and he fails to flesh out why these two opposites would ever get together in reality. Which of course they did... so what did they miss from the novel, which didn't translate to the screen? I don't know.All I can tell you is after over two hours of long-drawn-out drama, I'm ready to vow that this'll be the last war film I watch this year, after seeing 3 in a row. So, horror and comedy for the next fortnight it is, then... 5/10

jessicacoco2005 Pure, boring ahistorical Euro-trash. With the fall of the Berlin Wall and the victory of Western Capitalism, the West is rewriting history. All films are propaganda. Film costs millions to make. Bankers/Financiers are not going to finance films where they teach working class people their own history. Period. The film doesn't work on a historical level nor as an artistic cinematic endeavor.From the point of view of history: Many family members & neighbors lived in Nazi Germany. This story is purely fictional. Were there any Russian soldiers who raped German women? Of course. American soldiers who raped German women? Of course. In fact, some women are being raped as we speak whether on the streets of New York City, Rome, or China. The relevant question to ask was whether the Soviet government ever encouraged or legalized rape during WW2? The answer is: Absolutely, not! Let's look at the time period: World War 2 was coming to an end and all of Eastern Europe went socialist. France, Italy, Germany, and Greece were also going to go socialist. The Finance Bankers of the US and Great Britain wanted to stop this from happening. Thus the Marshall Plan was created. It was a battle between the East and West for the hearts and minds of not only the East Germans, but the Central Europeans. If Russian soldiers were raping millions of East German women as this film falsely show, why did East Germany become socialist and remain socialist for over 40 years? Why are East Germans; particularly East German women protesting by the hundreds of thousands to restore socialism there? From the prospective of artistic endeavor: Because a film may have been created as a piece of propaganda doesn't mean the production values need to be low are unwatchable. Regardless of how I feel about Nazi Germany, many of their film productions like Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will were masterpieces of their time that still resonant to today's audience. Lousy direction, abysmal acting, horrible cinematography, and poor script make this film unwatchable. The cinematography is shot in an almost gray pallor. Why? I don't know. Was the world black and white before 1960? The script and dialogue is silly and vulgar beyond belief. I'm ashamed and my German Protestant Family would have been even more ashamed. To give just one of several examples: An old lady willingly raped repeatedly by Russian soldiers comments how Russian men love having sex with her because as she depicts with her hand her vagina is small like a pea; unlike Ukrainian women who have vaginas the size of grapefruits. First, why would any young soldier, let alone many, want to rape ugly, old women old enough to be their grandmother? It's ridiculous! More over the overt racism against Ukrainian women is offensive and the dialogue just plain smut. Women didn't speak like this when I was a young woman in NYC in the 1990's and they for sure didn't speak this way in sexually repressed post-war Germany.One last thing before I end my review: A relevant question to ask is why certain films are financed and not others? This was a film destined to flop at the box office, so why would Bankers finance bombs ? Simple: This was the period when Austerity began and workers throughout Europe were having their worker rights' destroyed, pensions decimated, and so on. The film's purpose is to make people doubt the possibility that a better alternative is possible, so people continue to accept the tyranny of the Robber-Baron, Finance Capitalists 1%. By demonizing the Soviet Union, the 1% is trying to indoctrinate into the population that all alternatives are worse. 1 Star-Rotten. Pure trash, if it would have been created to be trashy Euro-porn, it would have been less trashy.

gelman@attglobal.net This film deals with the Soviet Army's entry into Berlin in 1945 and the lawless treatment inflicted on the civilian population, the women in particular, by the occupying troops. An attractive young woman (Nina Hoss) seeks out the commander of the force in her neighborhood (Yvigeniy Sidikhin) as her lover. She needs him to protect her from the daily round of rapes by the common soldiers. Her own husband, deployed in the East, does not return until late in the film, and he is no less compromised by the time he comes home than she is. The woman is willing to abandon her moral standing to preserve herself. Eventually, she and her protector fall in love and that is a factor in his loss of his command and his compulsory return to Russia. It's an unpleasant story based apparently on the diary kept by the unnamed woman. Whether or not it is true doesn't really matter. It could have been true. The Russians hated the Germans, and the people of Berlin were mostly supporters of the Third Reich, who had every reason to expect ill-treatment at the hands of their conquerors. Recent wars have shown us that rape is a political instrument, and restraining a triumphant group of soldiers is probably nothing the Soviets were interested in attempting. As for the woman's behavior, who knows what any of us might do in similar circumstances. Saving herself by becoming the commander's mistress is not admirable behavior but it is a rational choice.