Film No. 13 (2017) Alone in Berlin February 27th.

Film No. 13 (2017) February 27th.  6.45 PM LUNA Paradiso, Northbridge.

"Germany has taken my only son, for you, for the fuhrer, what more can a man donate than his child?" (Otto rebuts an accusation that he has made no contribution to Germany's war effort).

The story underpinning Alone in Berlin is a fascinating tale of parents singlemindedly dealing with the loss of their only son during Germany's push to become the supreme race. The film reenacts the fictionalised novel of the same name by Hans Fallada telling the story of Otto and Elise Hampel (Brendon Gleeson and Emma Thompson) who used their own version of social media in the form of postcards to spread anti Hitler messages around their city.

The fact the film is a German tale, played out in Berlin by German film-makers using English character actors is surprising and at the same time perplexing. The dialogue is in english with german accents but all the text on screen is in german. That's clunky to say the least. If the same technique had been used in The Lives of Others I feel sure it wouldn't have been that award winner it became.

The strange thing is, Gleeson and Thompson are brilliant as the grieving parents, it's just that their brilliance can't make the whole body of work gel. The fact that this tale is based on the lives of grieving parents with so much less to live for now their only child has been senselessly killed makes it a tale worth telling. The simplicity of Otto's use of social media, 1940's style, is intriguing to say the least.


Perhaps the film's greatest attribute, in this time of political unrest is it's anti war message. The British / German co production gives insight, if slightly heavy handedly, into Berlin life under nazi rule through the eyes of humble people. Alone in Berlin has lots to say and despite my mild reservations is well worth a look. 8GUMS.