Alone in Berlin

November 6, 2017

Showings 4:30, 7:00 and 9:10pm

United Kingdom/France/Germany
Rated: PG | Drama | 103 minutes

Based on a true story, the film unfolds against 1940 Berlin, a city paralyzed by fear. Working class couple Otto (Brendan Gleeson) and Anna Quangel (Emma Thompson) are living in a shabby apartment block trying, like many others, to stay out of trouble with the Gestapo. After losing their only child on the frontlines, they become disillusioned with Hitler’s regime and mount a small yet highly successful resistance. They pour their rage and grief into creating postcards emblazoned with anti-Nazi slogans that question the Fuhrer’s empty promises and emphasize the ghastly toll of the war. Risking certain execution if caught, the couple distributes their missives throughout the German capital. Their effective campaign attracts a restless young police inspector who launches a deadly game of cat-and-mouse.

Gleeson and Thompson have a genuinely moving chemistry, honouring the bravery of the real-life couple that Hans Fallada wrote about in his 1947 bestseller Every Man Dies Alone.

Alone in Berlin allows a peek into the lives of Berliners under Nazi rule and serves as a testament to resistance, however large or small, against totalitarianism.

“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.”

– Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun Times