A Most Wanted Man

First Hit: Better than Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy but the pall of Hoffman’s death kept creeping into my thoughts while watching.

Upon seeing Hoffman, I found myself looking for the signs of his real life struggle. His overweight, chain smoking and heavy drinking character Gunther Bachmann was one having a difficult life as well.

As an unsupported German government terrorist finder, he’s got a small team of people who work to befriend, interrogate (nicely) and influence people to assist him to find the people who fund Islamic terrorist activities around the world. His team does it methodically and not reactively.

However, the CIA and the German government only gives him a short leash and their ever-present pushing create a more difficult environment him and his team to work in.

The film takes place in Hamburg (one of my favorite German cities) with its water, canals, and mixture of old and new architecture. The pacing of this film is on the slow methodical side but it fits with the story. The film is dark in mood and I don’t think I saw one scene where the sun shines as well.

Hoffman embodies his character with an odd inconsistent accent. Girgoriy Dobrygin as Issa Karpov (as suspected terrorist) was very good. His sullen, eyes down view of the world was very powerful and believable. Mehdi Dehbi as Jamal was very good because he embodied the scared but determined informer he was. Nina Hoss as Irna Frey (Bachmann’s right hand person) was very good. Rachel McAdams as Annabel Richter (lawyer for Karpov) was really good. I liked the brightness she brought to the film. Robin Wright as Martha Sullivan (CIA head in Germany) was very strong. Willem Dafoe as Tommy Brue (Banker who manages his deceased father’s bank of ill-gotten money) is also very strong. Andrew Bovell wrote a clear screen play of this John le Carre novel. This was better than the muddied screen play for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy novel. Anton Corbijn directed this dark sullen film with a clear deft of hand.

Overall: This film was much better than I thought it would be but the pall of Hoffman’s recent death carried through my heart as I watched it.

A Woman In Berlin (Anonyma - Eine Frau In Berlin)

First Hit:  A very powerful film which digs deep into human behavior during war.

What made this WWII film different from many other WWII films was that it was looked at what it was like for Germans, specifically German women in Berlin, during the final months of Nazi Germany.

As the film begins, the German army is retreating quickly and they are being replaced by the Russian Army. As the Russians edge closer to Berlin, the war is all but lost and the Germans who are now being occupied see the writing on the wall.

How the conquerors act as they take over the towns and cities is the story told by Anonyma who is a journalist and photographer.

This film’s story is based on her diary of those months just before Germany finally surrendered. It is a horrific story because the Russian men, who had no quarrel with Germany before the war, found their country being taken over by German soldiers who burned their towns to the ground, raped their women, and left a path of arrogant destruction killing anyone in sight.

Through Russian pride and ugly brute force, they fought back and with each won battle, they took the spoils they thought belonged to them. The spoils included raping German women of which Anonyma was one.

With her ability to speak Russian and a desperate drive to keep some dignity, she decides to change the situation any way she can. In a poignant scene she confronts a Major in front of his other officers and implores him to control his men. He laughs at her but this only creates more resolve.

At one point shortly after she is raped again, she decides that maybe she can have a choice about who violates her body. Major Andreij Rybkin, who was impressed with her in their first meeting, becomes interested and starts to visit her regularly in the flat she shares with lots of other women and older men. On his visits, he brings food, wine and a level of protection to everyone who is living in the building.

Although she is still married to a German soldier who is missing, she begins to feel compassion and passion for the Major as their visits are filled with song, dance, stories and closeness. When the war ends, things must change, her husband returns and after reading her diary, rejects her for what has transpired.

The Major is reprimanded for protecting German people gets reassigned to Siberia.

Nina Hoss plays Anonyma and is extraordinary emoting the pain and strength of being a strong willed woman. Yevgeni Sidikhin was powerful in his portrayal of someone who is filled with compassion, but having to no place to share it when he is in front of his men. Only when he is with the enemy does it come out. Very well directed by Max Farberbock because this was a hard story to tell and by not over emphasizing or hiding anything we get a dose of the truth.

Overall: A very strong film, beautifully shot in black and white and well paced throughout.