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.
Review of A Woman in Berlin
