10/23
In Berlin in 1942, Hilde is a member of an anti-Nazi group. She falls in love with another member, Hans. The two spend the summer together until they are captured by the Gestapo and Hilde is imprisoned while eight months pregnant. The narration at the very end of the film is narrated by the real Hans Coppi Jr. Who would have expected a 1942 film about a resistance group, Nazi Germany, to be hilarious? But this film, based on true events, is compelling, even if it is at times confrontational. Hilde is a young pregnant woman who is caught with her husband making illegal broadcasts and is eventually sentenced to death. Through flashbacks, the film tells the story of the pair meeting and the resistance attempts they make with their friends. Oddly enough, these flashbacks move forward in time, usually, but not always, moving further back in time, but it is always clear where the viewer is. After being caught, Hilde’s prison experience is sometimes confrontational, but I really appreciated that most of the prison staff are not presented in a one-dimensional way, but with a touch of humanity. As detailed in the IMDB, the film closes with a few words from her son, who was born in prison and is now 80 years old. Overall, the acting, cinematography, and editing are properly subordinated to the storytelling, so that only in retrospect does one realize how effective they are.