Alone in Berlin (film)

Alone in Berlin
French release poster
Directed by Vincent Pérez
Produced by
Written by Vincent Pérez
Achim von Borries
Bettine von Borries
Based on Every Man Dies Alone
by Hans Fallada
Starring Emma Thompson
Brendan Gleeson
Daniel Brühl
Music by Alexandre Desplat
Cinematography Christophe Beaucarne
Edited by François Gédigier
Production
company
Distributed by
Release date
  • 15 February 2016 (2016-02-15) (Berlin)
  • 8 September 2016 (2016-09-08) (Germany)
  • 23 November 2016 (2016-11-23) (France)
  • 10 March 2017 (2017-03-10) (United Kingdom)
Running time
 103 minutes
Country
  • Germany
  • France
  • United Kingdom
Language English

Alone in Berlin is a 2016 war drama film directed by Vincent Pérez and written by Pérez and Achim von Borries, based on the 1947 fictionalized novel Every Man Dies Alone by Hans Fallada. The novel's characters Otto and Anna Quangel are based on the real lives of Otto and Elise Hampel. When their son dies in France, the couple start writing postcards to urge people to protest against Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime. The film stars Emma Thompson, Brendan Gleeson, and Daniel Brühl. Principal photography began on 27 March 2015 in Berlin. It was selected to compete for the Golden Bear at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival.[1]

Plot

In 1940, a working-class couple in World War II-era Berlin, Otto and Anna Quangel, decide to resist Adolf Hitler and the Nazis, after receiving the news of the death of their only son. An additional impetus for their growing resistance to the regime is the fate of an old Jewish woman living in their building. Though the official deportation of Jews to death camps had not yet started, Jews have no recourse to any legal protection. Ruthless Nazis — and "non-ideological" common criminals — use the opportunity to loot the old woman's apartment with impunity. Despite the efforts of the Quangels and other kind neighbors to help her, the persecution ends with the old woman jumping to her death from a high floor window.

Impelled by all this, the couple starts writing postcards to urge people to stand against Hitler and the Nazis and protest against them, and furtively placing the cards in public places - a capital crime.[2][3] Their first card reads: "Mothers, Hitler Will Kill Your Son Too". At first, Otto wants to do it all by himself, warning Anna, "They hang women, too!" She, however, insists on taking part in this dangerous activity. While in the beginning of the film the couple's marriage seems to have dried up, being unable to console each other for the loss of their son, their shared risk and commitment brings them back closer, in effect falling in love with each other all over again.

Escherich is the police inspector charged with finding the source of the postcards.[4] He is a professional police detective, acting out of professional pride rather than Nazi ideology. During three years of painstakingly gathering clues about the "Hobgoblin" (as he calls the mysterious writer of the postcards) he develops an increasing respect for this elusive unknown opponent. With the lack of progress in his investigation, Escherich is beaten up by the obviously impatient S.S. senior officer, and is further forced thereby, to execute extrajudicially, a man whom he is certain has no connection with these subversive postcards.

Finally, Otto Quangel is arrested due to the accidental fall of postcards out of his pocket, while at work. He remains, though, stoic about the certain death sentence awaiting him, and only tries in vain to take all the blame on himself and save Anna. After the couple has been executed, Escherich is alone in his office. He gathers up all of the couple's hundreds of subversive postcards, scatters them out of the open window of the police headquarters, and shoots himself. The film ends with the image of the postcards swirling in the wind, falling down on the Berlin streets and picked up by passersby — giving the film's protagonists a posthumous moral victory.

Cast

Production

Hans Fallada's Every Man Dies Alone was published posthumously in German in 1947 and was praised by Primo Levi as "the greatest book ever written about German resistance to the Nazis".[6] It was previously adapted as Alfred Vohrer's Everyone Dies Alone in 1975,[4] along with West and East German made-for-television dramas in 1962 and 1970. Marco Pacchioni and Vincent Pérez bought the rights to the novel in 2007.[2] Upon publication of its English translation in 2009, it became a "surprise bestseller" in both the US and UK.[6]

On 14 May 2014, it was announced that Pérez would direct the film based on an adaptation he cowrote with Achim von Borries.[2] Emma Thompson, Mark Rylance, and Daniel Brühl were named for the principal roles.[2] It was produced by X-Filme's Stefan Arndt and Uwe Schott (German rights), Master Movies' Marco Pacchioni (French rights) and Filmwave's Christian Grass and Paul Trijbits, and James Schamus.[2]

On 26 March 2015, Rylance was replaced by Brendan Gleeson.[5] Other crew members included cinematographer Christophe Beaucarne, production designer Jean-Vincent Puzos, and editor François Gédigier.[5] Alison Thompson handled most foreign sales for the film through her Sunray Films,[7] although Pathé will release it in French-speaking areas.[7]

Filming

Principal photography on the film began on 27 March 2015 in Berlin.[5][4] It was also shot in Cologne and Görlitz.[4]

Release

The film adaptation Alone in Berlin was first screened at the Berlin Film Festival in February 2016.[8] The film starred Emma Thompson as Anna Quangel, Brendan Gleeson as Otto Quangel, and Daniel Brühl as Escherich. The film received a score of 52 on the critical aggregator website Metacritic, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[9]

In Irish Times, Tara Brady sums up viewer response: "Despite a terrific triumvirate of performances from Gleeson, Thompson, and Brühl, and soft lensing from cinematographer Christophe Beaucarne, Alone in Berlin is hampered by stodgy pacing, budgetary constraints, and drab interiors. Against this, the film offers a fascinating and timely blueprint for political dissent, a methodology that connects with pamphleteering, graffiti, and memes."[10] In The Guardian, Peter Bradshaw reacted positively, "More than once, 'Alone in Berlin' reminded me of Fritz Lang's M."[3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Berlinale 2016: First Films for Competition and Berlinale Special". Berlinale. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Kemp, Stuart (14 May 2014). "Cannes: Emma Thompson, Daniel Bruhl Join 'Alone In Berlin'". hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  3. 1 2 Bradshaw, Peter (June 29, 2017). "Alone in Berlin' review – couple wage a quiet war against Hitler". The Guardian. Retrieved December 24, 2017.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Roxborough, Scott (26 March 2015). "'Alone in Berlin' Starring Emma Thompson, Brendan Gleeson Begins Shoot". hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Barraclough, Leo (26 March 2015). "Emma Thompson, Brendan Gleeson Movie 'Alone in Berlin' Starts to Shoot". variety.com. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  6. 1 2 Dalya Alberge, "Hans Fallada's anti-Nazi classic becomes surprise UK bestseller" The Observer (23 May 2010). Retrieved 6 March 2012
  7. 1 2 Kemp, Stuart (29 April 2014). "Cannes: Alison Thompson to Launch Sunray Films with 'Alone in Berlin'". hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  8. ↑ "Alone In Berlin". imdb.com. Retrieved 2017-07-11.
  9. ↑ "Alone In Berlin critic reviews". metacritic.com. Retrieved 2017-07-11.
  10. ↑ Brady, Tara (June 30, 2017). "Review: 'Alone in Berlin': Emma Thompson and Brendan Gleeson offer a timely blueprint for dissent". Irish Times. Retrieved December 24, 2017.
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