The WWII movie genre has plenty of familiar tropes, but sometimes if they’re done respectfully enough, that’s all you need to create a gripping film. Certainly, Vincent Perez hasn’t tried to break any cinematic rules in his adaptation of the bestselling novel by Hans Fallada, but “Alone In Berlin” look to be a decent enough wartime thriller.
Starring Brendan Gleeson, Daniel Bruhl, and Emma Thompson, the story takes place near the beginning of WWII, and follows a married couple who are beginning to see the true colors of Adolf Hitler. And after their son is killed on the front line, they start a small scale resistance movement that soon puts them in danger. Here’s the synopsis from Berlin Film Festival where the film debuted earlier this year:
Berlin in June of 1940. While Nazi propaganda celebrates the regime’s victory over France, a kitchen-cum-living room in Prenzlauer Berg is filled with grief. Anna and Otto Quangel’s son has been killed at the front. This working class couple had long believed in the ‘Führer’ and followed him willingly, but now they realise that his promises are nothing but lies and deceit. They begin writing postcards as a form of resistance and in a bid to raise awareness: Stop the war machine! Kill Hitler! Putting their lives at risk, they distribute these cards in the entrances of tenement buildings and in stairwells. But the SS and the Gestapo are soon onto them, and even their neighbours pose a threat.
“Alone In Berlin” opens in France on November 23rd. There’s no U.S. distributor for the movie yet, but you can read our review right here.