Set in Berlin during what appear to be the latter years of World War II, this movie follows the developing relationship between two women. Maria Schrader played Felice (Jaguar) a young Jewish woman who's also a lesbian, who meets up with Lilly Wust (or Aimee, played by Juliane Kohler) who's married to a German officer (and who's having an affair with another German officer.) The story of their relationship as it develops from cautious friendship into a full blown love affair is told in a non- sensationalistic way, and it manages to offer a glimpse of what life in Berlin might have been like during those desperate years.
What I really liked about this movie was the fact that it avoided the opportunity to be exploitative on at least two fronts - both the Holocaust and lesbianism were simply a part of the story, but they weren't THE story. The story was about the relationship between the two, and seemed to focus far more on the emotional side of that relationship than on the sexual side. There's a minimal amount of nudity, but very little overt sexuality, so anyone looking for a soft-porn type of lesbian movie should look elsewhere. Both Aimee and Jaguar (as Lilly and Felice nicknamed themselves) come across as people struggling - as Berliners were in those days - to survive the madness of Nazi Germany. So it's a story of survival and perseverance; there's also a bit of a journey of self-discovery involved. The movie is told as a flashback. The movie opens with a reunion between Lily and her former maid Ilse (who was a part of the lesbian circle Felice was involved in) in the 1990's. The ending of the movie goes back to the "modern" conversation between Lilly and Ilse. To be honest, I wasn't sure that the movie needed to include those bookends - the story could have been told well enough without them.
This is intriguing because it's a true story; Lilly Wust herself apparently vouched for its accuracy, and because it's different than most of the "set in Nazi Germany" stories you come across. Subtitles don't really appeal to me all that much, but the story is easy enough to follow, and hearing the original German you really do get a sense of the emotions of the characters as the story progresses. (7/10)
What I really liked about this movie was the fact that it avoided the opportunity to be exploitative on at least two fronts - both the Holocaust and lesbianism were simply a part of the story, but they weren't THE story. The story was about the relationship between the two, and seemed to focus far more on the emotional side of that relationship than on the sexual side. There's a minimal amount of nudity, but very little overt sexuality, so anyone looking for a soft-porn type of lesbian movie should look elsewhere. Both Aimee and Jaguar (as Lilly and Felice nicknamed themselves) come across as people struggling - as Berliners were in those days - to survive the madness of Nazi Germany. So it's a story of survival and perseverance; there's also a bit of a journey of self-discovery involved. The movie is told as a flashback. The movie opens with a reunion between Lily and her former maid Ilse (who was a part of the lesbian circle Felice was involved in) in the 1990's. The ending of the movie goes back to the "modern" conversation between Lilly and Ilse. To be honest, I wasn't sure that the movie needed to include those bookends - the story could have been told well enough without them.
This is intriguing because it's a true story; Lilly Wust herself apparently vouched for its accuracy, and because it's different than most of the "set in Nazi Germany" stories you come across. Subtitles don't really appeal to me all that much, but the story is easy enough to follow, and hearing the original German you really do get a sense of the emotions of the characters as the story progresses. (7/10)