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 "Alone in Berlin", recounting the story of factory foreman
Otto Quangel, played by Brendan Gleeson, and his wife Anna,
played by Emma Thompson, living in Berlin in the 1940s was
directed by Vincent Perez. It is being show in competition at
the Berlin Film Festival for the top Golden Bear prize, to be
awarded on Saturday.
Perez said that despite the German subject matter, the story was
universal, and this had justified using English-speaking actors
for the main roles.
"I think what I like about the fact (of) making the film in
English is to bring the film into an international level; you
know, that was the aim," Perez said at a post-screening press
conference.
Thompson lent support: "I think that one of the reasons why we
did this in English is because it's a European story and it
should apply and feel relevant to all of us whether it's in
French or Portuguese, whatever language it is."
Thompson was challenged by the opening questioner on how she
felt about the rise of nationalist and anti-immigrant movements
in Germany and elsewhere around Europe.
"Oh crikey, great start, great start for a movie about something
else," Thompson said, eliciting a ripple of applause and
laughter. "Actually there is a quite a good answer, in a sense,
because this movie's about being brave, about saying things that
are not popular."
The postcards that Quangel wrote at home bore slogans such as
"help us stop the criminal war machine" and were planted in
public places so ordinary people could see them.
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All but a handful were immediately turned over to the police, who
launched a major hunt for the person responsible.
The couple were eventually caught, tried, and beheaded in Berlin's
Ploetzensee Prison in April 1943. The film is based on a Hans
Fallada novel in which the couple's names were changed from the real
life Otto and Elise Hampel.
Gleeson, who portrays Otto Quangel as a blue collar worker who is
spurred to action when he realizes his son's death has been in vain,
said what the Quangels did was a testament to the importance of
taking a stand against injustice and brutality.
"Even if in practical terms they didn't start a revolution, the idea
of a person, an ordinary person, refusing to go along with the
policy of hatred I think is a massive thing," Gleeson said.
(Reporting by Michael Roddy; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
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