Max Faberböck's rare and original insight to life in Germany during World War II brings a new and interesting perspective to this overcrowded genre. It is tense and dramatic, and brings to light the dark culture of suspicion, paranoia and witch-hunting that followed Hitler's infamous 'vow' to destroy the 'enemy within' in 1943.
Aimée & Jaguar is based on the true story of Felice (Maria Schrader), a Jewish woman in hiding from the S.S who falls in love with Lilly (Juliane Kohler), a blond-haired, blue-eyed, housewife to a Nazi soldier. Eventually Felice faces a dilemma when a Jewish sympathiser offers her and her friends the chance to escape Berlin. Felice chooses to stay with her lover in the expectation that the war is going to end within five weeks, while being fully aware that in five weeks she could also be dead.
One of the most original things about Aimée & Jaguar is that it moves away from depictions of the violence of the Nazi regime, which has already been fully and graphically rendered onscreen, and instead chooses to focus on its destructive effect on peoples everyday lives and relationships. Although there are occasionally disturbing scenes which show the brutality of the S.S, generally this film offers a more subtle look at life during Hitler's reign.
Aimée & Jaguar thoughtfully reflects the conflict within the wider German populace about Nazism. Whilst portraying those who were caught up in the propaganda and fervour and all to eager to name and identify opposers of the regime, it also shows those who were quietly sympathetic to, and even tried to protect the Jews. Also interesting is the film's depiction of an underground movement amongst the Jews in hiding in Berlin, showing a group of Jewish women quietly working to free themselves from the Regime.
Aesthetically Aimée & Jaguar provides an original image of the War as Faberböck's camera swoops around the gigantic and seemingly impenetrable buildings of Berlin, even as Allied air raids rock this monumental city to its foundations. These are eerily similar to the familiar scenes of the London Blitz and it is rare to see onscreen Germans living in similar circumstances, as trucks round up children for evacuation, people talk of food rations and emergency alarms ring around the city.
Reviewed by Joseph Oakley
Reader comments about Aimée & Jaguar
petra (mupp_tupp84@hotmail.com) writes:
It`s a moving story, and the fact that it has happend for real makes me both happy and sad. Happy because their love seemed to be so strong for each other, strong and pure. It makes me sad because no one should ever have to experince the terrible things that happend at that time in germany and other countrys.
I hope that Lilly now has a good life , and that she`s not alone.
Catherine (Email address withheld) writes:
Such an intense film! I watched this a couple of days ago and I'm completely infatuated with it. Maria Schrader's performance is off the charts. She's become my new favorite actress. You don't have to be a lesbian to enjoy this movie. It's beyond that.
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