Alone In Berlin * * * *

This has been adapted from a successful novel which is based on a true story.  Set in the Second World War, a Berlin couple whose only son has been killed on the front are not as enthusiastic about the Nazi Party and Adolf Hitler as many other Berliners.  

Twitter, the way it used to be.

So they start delivering postcards to other Berliners. The postcards have blunt messages written on them about Hitler and his politics.  They leave the cards on doorsteps and building entrances.

These days they’d just use Twitter or start a blog probably: (though speaking from personal experience on the effectiveness of blogging I wouldn’t recommend it).  

Interestingly their postcards, which they call Free Press has more impact than Twitter or any blog could. They drive the police and the SS to distraction.

They're a brave couple. As they are in their fifties and they have lost their only child it’s like they just don’t care anymore.  Whilst the rest  of Berlin goes underground during the bombings, this couple get about delivering their postcards, not giving a damn about the bombs. They kept this up for over a year apparently.

It’s a bit slow in its telling but I liked Alone In Berlin.  Great performance by two consummate actors in the lead Brendan Gleeson and Emma Thompson. Daniel Bruhl does well as the policeman in pursuit of them whilst under pressure from the SS.

 But if I was going to give an award to anyone I’d give it to the location scouts.  Every interior and exterior is just perfect, not just in in it’s authenticity, but also in its beauty.  Which might seem an inappropriate adjective for buildings and streets of Berlin in the 1940’s but, sorry, that’s the way it looked.