''A Woman in Berlin'' (), known as ''The Downfall of Berlin – Anonyma'' in the UK, is a 2008 German film directed by

Max Färberböck Max Färberböck (born 22 September 1950) is a German film director and writer. He was born in Brannenburg, Bavaria. He began his career at theaters in Buenos Aires and in Italy. He later studied at the University of Television and Film in Munic ...

, starring

Nina Hoss Nina Hoss (; born 7 July 1975) is a German stage, film, and television actress. She is known for her collaborations with director Christian Petzold in films such as '' Barbara'' (2012) and '' Phoenix'' (2014). Roles in other films include '' T ...

and

Yevgeny Sidikhin Yevgeny Vladimirovich Sidikhin () is a Russian film and theater actor and television presenter. Early life and education Sidikhin was born in Leningrad, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union (now Saint Peter ...

. It is based on the memoir, '' Eine Frau in Berlin,'' published anonymously (by

Marta Hillers Marta Hillers (May 26, 1911 – June 16, 2001) was a German journalist, and the author of the memoir ''Eine Frau in Berlin'' ('' A Woman in Berlin''), published anonymously in 1959 and 2003 in German. It is the diary of a German woman from 20 Apri ...

) in 1959 in German, with a new edition in 2003. (It was also published in English in 1954 and 2005, and in seven other languages.) The film premiered at the 2009 Berlin Film Festival and was praised for its portrayal of a morally complex and brutal period.

Plot

In the waning days of World War II, an assortment of women, children and elderly men struggle to survive in Berlin, cast out of their formerly middle-class lives. The Soviet

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

arrives, defeating the last German defense. Its soldiers rape women of any age as they occupy the city. After having been raped by a number of Soviet soldiers, the film's anonymous woman, a German journalist (

) petitions the battalion's commanding officer for an alliance and protection. After initially rejecting her, the married officer Andrei Rybkin (

) is gradually seduced by the beautiful but battered German woman. She has a cool, practical approach to her life and has been part of an informal community that developed among survivors in her apartment building. The officer subsequently protects, feeds and parties with her and her neighbors. Other women in the flats also take particular officers or soldiers for protection against being raped by soldiers at large. Rybkin comes under suspicion and he is reassigned.

Cast

as The Anonymous Woman *

as Andrej Rybkin *

Irm Hermann Irmgard Hermann (4 October 194226 May 2020) was a German actress. She worked in film, television, and the stage, appearing in over 160 film and television productions. She was discovered, without formal training, by Rainer Werner Fassbinder who c ...

as Witwe *

Rüdiger Vogler Rüdiger Vogler (born 14 May 1942 in Warthausen, near Biberach an der Riß) is a German film and stage actor. Biography Rüdiger Vogler attended acting school in Heidelberg from 1963 to 1965. Later he played for six years at "''Theater am Turm ...

as Eckhart *

Ulrike Krumbiegel Ulrike Krumbiegel (born 16 December 1961) is a German actress. She has performed in more than 100 film and TV productions. In her early career, she performed in East German cinema and theatre. After the re-unification of Germany, her career cont ...

as Ilse Hoch *

Rolf Kanies Rolf Kanies (born 21 December 1957) is a German actor who played many high-profile roles on the stage before switching to a career in film and television in 1997. Since then Kanies has specialized in German and international film and television. ...

as Friedrich Hoch *

Jördis Triebel Jördis Triebel (born 30 October 1977) is a German film and stage actress. Early life Triebel grew up the second oldest of four sisters in the Prenzlauer Berg locality of Berlin. She was exposed to the world of theatre early on through her mot ...

as Bärbel Malthaus * Roman Gribkov as Anatol *

Juliane Köhler Juliane Köhler (born 6 August 1965) is a German theatre, television and film actress. She was born in Göttingen to a puppeteer. During the period from 1985 to 1988, she studied under Uta Hagen in New York City and attended HB Studio. She also ...

as Elke * Samvel Muzhikyan as Andropov *

August Diehl August Diehl (; born 4 January 1976) is a German actor, primarily known to international audiences for playing Gestapo major Dieter Hellstrom in Quentin Tarantino's ''Inglourious Basterds'' (2009) and Michael "Mike" Krause, Evelyn Salt's husband, ...

as Gerd * Aleksandra Kulikova as Masha * Viktor Zhalsanov as the asian Red Armyman * Oleg Chernov as first rapist *

Eva Löbau Eva Löbau (born 26 April 1972 in Waiblingen, West Germany) is an Austrian actress. She appeared as Nurse Gretchen Erfurt in the 2011 film ''Unknown'' which is set in the German capital city of Berlin. She also played the lead role in Maren Ade ...

as Mrs. Wendt * Anne Kanis as runaway girl * Sebastian Urzendowsky as young soldier

Reception

The film received strong reviews for its brutal truthfulness. ''The Washington Post'' described it as "A clear-eyed portrait of a highly charged chapter in Germany's history, a history that once again proves rewarding fodder for an alert artistic imagination." The reviewer wrote that after the film portrays the initial rapes and assaults against German women by Soviet soldiers, it takes a "much more somber and morally complex turn." The protagonist and her mostly women neighbors must "navigate a city that's become a physical and psychic no-man's land."Ann Hornaday, "Movie mini-review: Ann Hornaday on 'A Woman in Berlin'"
, ''Washington Post'', 6 November 2009, accessed 7 September 2014

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

noted that "Yes, she profits from their liaison, and yes, he eventually takes up her offer. But for each there is the illusion that this is something they choose to do....The woman and man ndreimake the best accommodation they can with the reality that confronts them."Roger Ebert, "Review: 'A Woman in Berlin'"
, Roger Ebert website, 23 September 2009, accessed 8 September 2014 ''

The Austin Chronicle ''The Austin Chronicle'' is an alternative weekly newspaper published every Thursday in Austin, Texas, United States. The paper is distributed through free news-stands, often at local eateries or coffee houses frequented by its targeted demogra ...

'' praised Hoss "in a supremely complex and modulated performance." It described the film as "that rarest of wartime dramas: an intimate, sorrowful glimpse into the heart and loins of the hellish aftermath of war."Marc Savlov, "Review: 'A Woman in Berlin'
, ''Austin Chronicle'', 9 October 2009, accessed 8 September 2014

References

External links

* *
''A Woman in Berlin''
at

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Woman in Berlin (film), A German war drama films Polish war drama films 2000s German-language films Films based on non-fiction books German World War II films Films about the Battle of Berlin Films scored by Zbigniew Preisner Films set in Berlin 2008 films Films shot in Cologne 2000s German films Films about World War II crimes Sexual violence in Europe during World War II

Plot

Cast

Reception

See also

References

External links