''Eine Liebe in Deutschland'' (''A Love in Germany'') is a 1983 feature film directed by

Andrzej Wajda Andrzej Witold Wajda (; 6 March 1926 – 9 October 2016) was a Polish film and theatre director. Recipient of an Honorary Oscar, the Palme d'Or, as well as Honorary Golden Lion and Honorary Golden Bear Awards, he was a prominent member of the ...

. The film is based on the novel by

Rolf Hochhuth Rolf Hochhuth (; 1 April 1931 – 13 May 2020) was a German author and playwright, best known for his 1963 drama ''The Deputy'', which insinuates Pope Pius XII's indifference to Hitler's extermination of the Jews, and he remained a controversial ...

about a woman who commits

adultery Adultery (from Latin ''adulterium'') is extramarital sex that is considered objectionable on social, religious, moral, or legal grounds. Although the sexual activities that constitute adultery vary, as well as the social, religious, and legal ...

with a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of wa ...

while her husband serves as a soldier during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. ''A Love in Germany'', featuring many popular German actors, was produced by German

film producer A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordinating writing, di ...

Artur Brauner Artur "Atze" Brauner (born Abraham Brauner; 1 August 1918 – 7 July 2019) was a German film producer and entrepreneur of Polish origin. He produced more than 300 films from 1946. Life and career He was born the oldest son of a Jewish family ...

and German broadcaster

ZDF ZDF (, short for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen; ; "Second German Television") is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is run as an independent nonprofit institution, which was founded by all fe ...

Synopsis

The story takes place in the German village of , at the border to

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. A man and his son visit the village to find out about an incident in the life of the man's mother, Pauline Kropp, in 1941 in this village. However, they are met with mistrust by the local population. In 1941, the owner of the local fruit-and-vegetables shop has been called up. His shop has a key function for the town's supply situation. His customers know from

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

how

rationing Rationing is the controlled distribution of scarce resources, goods, services, or an artificial restriction of demand. Rationing controls the size of the ration, which is one's allowed portion of the resources being distributed on a particular ...

can make the owner of such a shop very rich if only he's egoistic enough to get corrupted by well-heeled customers who don't care whether their poorer country fellowmen's families starve. So when his wife Pauline starts to run the shop alone, her character is subsequently of public interest for all citizens who are concerned about the well-being of their families during the ongoing war. Pauline, still young and attractive, shares the fate of other soldiers' wives who constantly face the fear her husband might return crippled, maimed or not at all. But because her husband's shop is highly important for the town's community, she gets somebody who can ease her working load, and so a Polish

named Stanisław must serve her. She obviously finds him handsome and relishes that he has to obey all her commands. Eventually she seduces him; the unlikely couple sometimes celebrate their love even literally in the open. Even when a town's official informs her that her evident bliss leads other women to doubt her integrity she still doesn't let go of her love affair. The town official keeps on warning her that under the prevailing

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

laws her adultery is punishable as "

Rassenschande ''Rassenschande'' (, "racial shame") or ''Blutschande'' ( "blood disgrace") was an anti-miscegenation concept in Nazi German racial policy, pertaining to sexual relations between Aryans and non-Aryans. It was put into practice by policies like ...

". Pauline keeps on putting the

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

POW in lethal danger until he is finally taken to court and

sentenced Sentenced was a Finnish gothic metal band that played melodic death metal in their early years. The band formed in 1989 in the town of Muhos and broke up in 2005. History Early years (1988–1991) Sentenced started in 1988 as Deformity and c ...

to death. Pauline is imprisoned for two years. Her son and her grandson are appalled when they realise that the official, who initially had warned Pauline but in the end had abandoned her, still lives in this very village.

Background

The film was shot in the villages of Efringen,

Eimeldingen Eimeldingen is a municipality in the district of Lörrach, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after ...

and Tumringen. Some scenes were shot at the

Spandau Studios The Spandau Studios or CCC Studios were film and television studios located in Spandau, a suburb of Berlin. They were established in 1949 following the Second World War by the producer Artur Brauner Artur "Atze" Brauner (born Abraham Brauner; ...

West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...

. The production set was designed by

Allan Starski Allan Mieczysław Starski (born 1 January 1943 in Warsaw) is a Polish Oscar-winning production designer and set decorator. Life and career Allan Starski is the son of Ludwik Starski (originally Ludwik Kałuszyner) famous screenwriter and songwri ...

and

Götz Heymann Götz or Goetz () is a German name, in origin a hypocorism of '' Gottfried''. It remains in use as a short form of ''Gottfried'', but it has also become a surname. Surnames ;Goetz * Alphonse Goetz (1865-1934), French chess master * Arturo Goetz, ...

, costumes were designed by

Krystyna Zachwatowicz Krystyna Zachwatowicz-Wajda (born Krystyna Zachwatowicz; 16 May 1930) is a Polish scenographer, costume designer and actress. She is a daughter of architect and restorer Jan Zachwatowicz and Maria Chodźko ''h.'' Kościesza, and wife of film dir ...

and

Ingrid Zoré Ingrid may refer to: * Ingrid (given name) * Ingrid (record label), and artist collective * Ingrid Burley, rapper known mononymously as Ingrid * Tropical Storm Ingrid, various cyclones * 1026 Ingrid, an asteroid * InGrid, the grid computing projec ...

Reception

The film was not received too well by the German public, ''

Der Spiegel ''Der Spiegel'' (, lit. ''"The Mirror"'') is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of 695,100 copies, it was the largest such publication in Europe in 2011. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...

'', 45/1983 calling it a "cinema mishap", the Lexikon des Internationalen Films calling it "full of clichés".

later reflected on the circumstances of making the film: On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, ''A Love in Germany'' holds a rating of 55% based on 22 reviews. The consensus states: "Hanna Schygulla's thoroughly compelling performance isn't quite enough to outweigh ''A Love in Germany''s leaden execution -- but it comes close."

Accolades

The film was nominated for

Best Foreign Language Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

of 1984 by the U.S.

National Board of Review of Motion Pictures The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures is a non-profit organization of New York City area film enthusiasts. Its awards, which are announced in early December, are considered an early harbinger of the film awards season that culminat ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Love in Germany 1983 films 1983 drama films Polish drama films German drama films French drama films West German films 1980s Polish-language films 1980s German-language films Adultery in films Films based on German novels Films directed by Andrzej Wajda Films about Nazi Germany Films set in 1941 Films scored by Michel Legrand Films shot at Spandau Studios 1983 multilingual films German multilingual films French multilingual films 1980s French films 1980s German films