Alone in Berlin

Name: Alone in Berlin
Genre: Drama
Released: January 13, 2017
Duration: 103 min
Rating: 52

2017

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Mixed or average reviews based on 16 Critic Reviews

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Generally favorable reviews based on 11 Ratings

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6.5	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 11 Ratings

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Alone In Berlin

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Movie Details & Credits

IFC Films | Release Date: January 13, 2017 | R

Summary: Berlin, 1940. Otto and Anna Quangel (Brendan Gleeson and Emma Thompson) are a working class husband and wife doing their best to ride out the war. When their son is killed fighting on the frontlines, however, everything changes. They begin pouring their rage and grief into postcards emblazoned with anti-Nazi slogans, risking everything toBerlin, 1940. Otto and Anna Quangel (Brendan Gleeson and Emma Thompson) are a working class husband and wife doing their best to ride out the war. When their son is killed fighting on the frontlines, however, everything changes. They begin pouring their rage and grief into postcards emblazoned with anti-Nazi slogans, risking everything to disseminate their messages of protest across the city. But this seemingly small act of subversion rattles the regime, including a police inspector (Daniel Brühl) who will not rest until the culprits have been caught. [IFC Films]… Expand

Director: Vincent Perez

Genre(s): Drama

Rating: R

Runtime: 103 min

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Critic Reviews

Richard Roeper

Feb 10, 2017

When Alone in Berlin reaches the end of its journey, it’s the performances of Gleeson and Thompson that ensure we’ll never forget the bravery of Otto and Anna. Read full review

Abbey Bender

Jan 11, 2017

While not the most formally adventurous or action-packed picture, it is a film of compelling urgency. Read full review

Brad Wheeler

May 25, 2017

A modest, hard-faced film, offering a nervous study of humanity and civil disobedience in a societal-bullying era. Read full review

Guy Lodge

Jan 12, 2017

Tastefully lit and art-directed throughout, with a somberly mellifluous Alexandre Desplat score to ease it along, this fact-based drama finally cushions its harshest emotional blows, though Brendan Gleeson’s deeply sad, stoic dignity in the lead cuts through some of the padding. Read full review

Boyd van Hoeij

Jan 12, 2017

Handsomely packaged, the film unfortunately is also too well-behaved and lacking in psychological depth to really set itself apart from countless other WWII dramas. Read full review

Harriet Warman

Jan 12, 2017

Though Anna and Otto's story is undoubtedly a fascinating example of the necessity of resistance and Perez is clearly a skilful director of actors, there's something anticlimactic about Alone in Berlin. Read full review

Keith Watson

Jan 9, 2017

The film attempts a tone of tragic understatement that registers instead as flat, plodding, and underfelt. Read full review

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User Reviews

jhep

Jul 15, 2017

“Alone in Berlin” is directed by Swiss filmmaker Vincent Perez with a savvy, sureness-of-touch and talent for creating suspense fit to rival even the supreme master of this genre, Roman Polanski. The result is a film which somehow manages to deal with matters of the greatest political and“Alone in Berlin” is directed by Swiss filmmaker Vincent Perez with a savvy, sureness-of-touch and talent for creating suspense fit to rival even the supreme master of this genre, Roman Polanski. The result is a film which somehow manages to deal with matters of the greatest political and moral significance and yet, in the same cinematic breath so to speak, unfold as one of the most riveting thrillers I’ve seen in years.

Both Brendan Gleeson and Emma Thompson are superb here but it’s especially Gleeson’s uncanny performance (in perfect synch with Perez’s direction) that anchors the film and gives it its a remorseless “bite”. Gleeson plays Otto Quangel with a stoicism and an inscrutableness which conveys both heartbreak and grim resolve. Much of the time he and director Perez simply allow his silent expressionless FACE tell us all we need to know about what is occurring. Emma Thompson contributes an equally understated and restrained performance that reveals what a genuinely serious and talented actor she has become.

It should also noted that the film is an adaptation of the novel “Every Man Dies Alone” written by German novelist Hans Fallada just after the war and shortly before his death. Primo Levi has described it as “the greatest book ever written about German resistance to the Nazis.” Fallada’s novels have been praised by the likes of Herman Hesse, Thomas Mann and Graham Greene and this film version is an absolute gem which does full credit to his remarkable talent. The novel itself was translated into English in 2009 and quickly became a surprise best seller in the United Kingdom. Its publication was hailed by the New York Times as “a signal literary event“.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

NightReviews

Jun 6, 2017

Running for his life, a young soldier Hans Quangel (Louis Hofmann) finds himself jolting in a bleak and otherwise bare forest somewhere in the battlefields of World War II. Scared, alone and out of breath, the young German soldier seems lost and directionless. As his breaths sharpen and hisRunning for his life, a young soldier Hans Quangel (Louis Hofmann) finds himself jolting in a bleak and otherwise bare forest somewhere in the battlefields of World War II. Scared, alone and out of breath, the young German soldier seems lost and directionless. As his breaths sharpen and his fear settle, the young soldier spends most of his run with his head looking back; whether it be an enemy, the war itself, or a version of himself he is fearful of becoming, the young Quangel maneuvers himself between the tall and dark trees, the mysteriousness of the forest and the impending and looming death that looks for many young men in the battlefields of war. Before anyone can make any sense of it, we hear a gunshot, fatally wounding the young soldier and forcing him to the ground. As his bright blue eyes begin to turn to grey, life fleeting him quickly and the forest embodying his body, Alone In Berlin begins with what seem like an insignificant death to many, but an impactful one for few. As the next scene cuts to a very bustling and busy city front in Berlin, a young newspaper boy yells at the top of his lungs, “Victory Over France”, with cyclists, pedestrians and automobiles passing him. One of these people, is the city’s many cyclist mail correspondents, delivering news from the Military Postal Services to civilians within the city, a not so glorified profession. As the cyclist makes her way through the city, she stops at a small and very ordinary looking building. The building, which provides a home to Otto and Anna Quangel (Brendan Gleeson & Emma Thompson), parents of the fallen Hans, sets forth a string of events that would change the course of the second World War and Germany’s participation in it, forever.

Alone in Berlin is a small film with very big ambition, following the events of two very persistent and hard working people. While Anna & Otto Quangel never really excited, the couple they are based off of were two very impressional individuals that caused a great uproar in Hitler’s Germany from 1940 to 1943. The real life couple which the film is based from were Elise and Otto Hampel, a working class couple who created a very fundamental way of protest while living in Hitler’s Germany, specifically Berlin, early in the second World War. Elise, who lost her brother in the war, distressed and ruined by the news, denounced Hitler. With the help of her husband Otto, the two began composing and leaving postcards within Berlin’s most public places, which would very simply denounce Hitler’s government, war and methods, informing the very average people of Berlin the perils of joining his war and his methods. For three long and secretive years, the Hampel’s left over two hundred cards in Berlin, and only eighteen of the over two hundred cards were not reported and given to the local Gestapo, leaving them lasting to the people of Berlin who recovered them.

While many inconsistencies can be found from the history books to the film’s reenactments, director Vincent Perez does a marvellous job of keeping the content and tone of the film quite bleak yet extremely entertaining. Aside from the marvellous cinematography from Christophe Beaucarne and the miraculous score from Alexandre Desplat, the mood of the film is anchored effortlessly by the film’s two incredibly talented lead actors Brendan Gleeson and Emma Thompson. The Quangel show a variety and range of emotions, without ever really saying much, even upon the very early discovery of their son’s death, keeping their words short and sweet, but their actions fierce and impactful. The true anchors of the film are the two very talented actors who help guide the tension of Alone in Berlin throughout, without ever making the film of their performances melodramatic or overwrought.

Another very powerful performance of the film is none other than the always impressive Daniel Brühl, an actor who can play a villain or hero without skipping a beat, and even turn his heroes or villian’s to either side without hesitation. The very dramatic and theatrical cat and mouse game director Perez establishes between Escherich and the Quangels is one that keeps the audience engaged at all times yet really shows the very simple impact of their truth-telling letters the Quangels leave, even to members of the Nazi Regime. Brühl, Thompson and Gleeson are in top form from beginning to end.

While screenwriters Achim von Borries, Bettine von Borris and Vincent Perez make great use of the source material written by Hans Fallada, Every Man Dies Alone, written in 1947, the screenwriters and director never overemphasize much of whats happening on the warfront of Berlin too much that it becomes severely unbelievable.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

DawdlingPoet

Nov 26, 2021

At first I thought this film was a little slow and thin on the ground, plot wise but when it became clear what the parents were doing, it has more substance to it and I quite liked the idea behind it. The dialogue is a bit muffled/quiet at times, which may cause issues but its certainlyAt first I thought this film was a little slow and thin on the ground, plot wise but when it became clear what the parents were doing, it has more substance to it and I quite liked the idea behind it. The dialogue is a bit muffled/quiet at times, which may cause issues but its certainly somewhat thoughtful. There's no doubt that to do what the parents did, would require a fair amount of determination and I thought the main performances from Brendan Gleeson and Emma Thompson were quite convincing. It features some good cinematography and I found it interesting how the authorities tried to track down the messages the parents were spreading. Once or twice I thought the music played in the background was perhaps a little over the top, a bit too much, slightly too loud maybe but I admit I can be a bit picky. Thematically speaking, this film reminded me a bit of The Book Thief.

Not a bad film, this isn't an entirely memorable one and so it's not one I'd want to re-watch but its a pretty interesting film in terms of the themes and with a good cast, I would recommend it, yes.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Ralfbergs

Feb 7, 2017

It was a good movie, but I usually want more of the action in war movies, so this was a bit mellow in that sense. Of course, they did say it is based on real life events, so if they actually didn't change much I prefer it to be true then, but if it was loosely based on them, then they couldIt was a good movie, but I usually want more of the action in war movies, so this was a bit mellow in that sense. Of course, they did say it is based on real life events, so if they actually didn't change much I prefer it to be true then, but if it was loosely based on them, then they could have also just put in more action. For the whole movie I did think that main characters made many mistakes and could have done something else, something more fruitful to fight against the Nazis, but I guess it was hard to do it in reality. Also, what I liked the most about this movie, it makes you feel that feeling where you are almost hopeless and trapped, I mean - I can imagine that people, who weren't true Nazi followers, felt like that a lot.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Pangur

Dec 27, 2017

Gleeson & Thompson just don't gel as the grieving couple , but blame that on the writers. The couple are cold towards each other especially while out of earshot of others while in their apartment, they never talk about the son they lost, never talk about what he was like as a child or howGleeson & Thompson just don't gel as the grieving couple , but blame that on the writers. The couple are cold towards each other especially while out of earshot of others while in their apartment, they never talk about the son they lost, never talk about what he was like as a child or how they felt when he went to war. In one scene they celebrate the son's birthday but that is very quick and not a total expression of the true loss. Both actors do what they can with the little they got, but unfortunately for me it was not enough. In reality what was the point? A german couple certainly could not change anything with this idea they had and nothing was known of it till 2009. The story is lost in boredom even though it is based on a true account but that too is a fictional synopses of what happened at the time. The problem I have with this story is if the son had not died during the war then his parents would have happily continued to support hitler.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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