SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Steineded How sad is this?

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Griff Lees Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

andrewchattens In response to the review stating the Germans and Russians hatred of this book. I have an original English pressing under the title 'A woman in Berlin' -Anonymous. Printed via Secker & Warburg (1955).I think it was closer to an ambivalent position, which would seem shameful but in Great Britain which hadn't gone through horrors of war comparable to mainland Europe there was still rationing the country was dealing with its declining empire,this I believe may have lead to a general sense of wishing to look ahead( together with a largely ambivalent feeling towards Germans sufferings).The general response from Russians I think would be obvious.I think it seems likely that the book with for obvious reasons difficulties including not having the author available ,tragically slipped through the cracks,as have many works in the past for different reasons .In regard to the film I think overall they did quite a good job ,It being a subject which can be handled badly and result in exploitation .or sometimes understate the reality and have an anaemic product,which looks insensitive and uncaring to the victims.There is also no eventual 'day in court'or cathartic victory or 'closure '.An alternative to this 'populist' approach may be something like Salo:120 days in Sodom which is revered by many critics but failed to reach the 'General public '.

iuditapretty My rating is 5 out of 10. Why? Just because of the fact that it wasn't made properly. A lot of scenes that don't make any sense and are just useless from my perspective. The movie doesn't bring you the atmosphere of the situation this woman where put in. It just revolves into the fact that women where raped and it doesn't show besides that. Also, a lot of boring and long scenes to just fill up the time.

blue141 I sat through this movie for almost 1 hour watching filthy soldiers rape rape rape rape. This must be some sort of fetish film, for strange people to get off on.I found this movie totally useless. I know the strong have power over the weak, but this movie pushes the envelope over the hill and beyond.As a man, I do Not have to force myself on anyone, nor do I. I get it, Berlin was mostly taken over by Russian soldiers, mean rotten ones, using woman as sex objects. It's horrible, and I feel sick watching the implication of it in the shadows and behind closed doors. There should have been so much more subject matter to this film, but no, for those who are excited by this trash, the directors decided to keep it centered only on the forced sexual advances on women. Worst titillation film ever. The producers,directors and those who payed to have this film made, should feel very badly about themselves. I am so mad I watched this rotten movie for as long as I did.

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.