Best movie ever!

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

This is not a happy story. It is story that opens your eyes. We have talked about it a lot since. We felt like it was something that should be seen. I would recommend it for folks curious about that era and that place in time. It seems impossible now, but you know its not. Real life stories like this tell something more for me than the big picture story.

"You're to blame. You and your damn war! You and your damn fuhrer!"There are countless films about the resistance during WWII. But I had never heard of a German resistance against the Nazi regime. I'm sure there were more German citizens who weren't set up with the affairs of the German Empire. Most likely they kept this to themselves out of fear for reprisals. Anna (Emma Thompson) and Otto Quangel (Brendan Gleeson), whose name was Hampel in real life, may have had an aversion to the regime in the first place because their son had to join the German army. That's beyond dispute. The day they received a letter with the news that their son was killed at the front, is a turning point for both. Anna starts mourning in a serene way, while Otto's rebellious nature takes over and his plan is to write compromising messages on postcards and leave them behind at random places in Berlin. In this way he's trying to make clear to others that the country they are living in, isn't such an ideal place. Even if there's only one person who starts a silent protest as well, Otto still will be convinced that he has succeeded in his plan. Just look at it as a revenge for the death of his son."Alone in Berlin" isn't exactly an action packed movie and progresses slowly. All you get to see the whole movie is how Otto writes down in a patiently way his protest lyrics on a postcard (with kid gloves and in a different style of writing), the callous way these two resistance fighters interact with each other and an investigating held by the young police inspector Escherich (Daniel Bruhl). Although I actually wondered which tactic the inspector had in mind so he could track down those who are responsible. All he did was looking endlessly at a city map of Berlin with a whole series of flags pinned on it. Each pin represented a found postcard. 285 Postcards, to be exact. And the only clue that Escherich has is the handwriting on the cards. A handwriting revealing certain characteristics of the writer. That's about it.So besides a subplot about an old Jewish neighbor who's taken care of by the Quangel's if needed, one can only witness their silent protest and their relationship as a long married couple. A marriage with no affection and passion anymore. Even the letter about the death of their son, elicits no signs of any emotion. Despite the superb acting, it was all pretty boring. Even the use of English with a ridiculous sounding German accent, felt forced. This was obviously a strategic move, so they could put two big names on the payroll. "Alone in Berlin" does show that not all citizens were ardent supporters of Nazi Germany, but this one-man action ultimately had no influence on the rise of Adolf Hitler as we've learned in history classes. Eventually it was nothing more than a voice in the wilderness. Had they used the needles that indicated the places where the postcards were found, and planted those in Hitler's ass, it would have been more painful than this admirable action.More reviews here : http://bit.ly/1KIdQMT

Berlin, 1940. Working class couple Otto and Anna Quangel receive the news that their only son has lost his life in the battlefield and decide to resist the Nazi regime in their very own way. Soon the Gestapo is hunting "the threat". Although the performances of Brendan Gleeson and Emma Thompson are very good it's not enough to hold a movie that is simply bland and just the same old, same old kind of story plus some pretty good actors are going wasted and as usual Daniel Brühl and even Rosemary Harris that for some reason is not mentioned here but overall very disappointing movie with some pretty great and talented actors. (5/10)

War films are stories writ large about aggression between nations. Few of them explore small-scale human undercurrents of suppressed dissent inside the countries at war. Alone in Berlin (2016) does this by looking at an ordinary working-class couple and their compulsion to express feelings about Hitler's dictatorship at time where dissent meant certain death. It is also an essay on parental grief struggling to voice its pain of loss.Based on real events, the story opens in a small flat in Berlin where Otto Quangel (Brendan Gleeson) and his wife Anna (Emma Thompson) learn that their son has died in battle. In a long marriage that is under strain, the news pushes them further apart as they cannot console each other in grief. Otto had encouraged his son to join the Nazi army and now Anna blames him for their loss. Desperate to voice his rage against Hitler's regime, he painstakingly writes postcards and secretly leaves them on stairwells and doorways where they can be seen by passers-by: he calls them "small grains of sand in Hitler's machine". Initially he keeps Anna away from his dangerous mission, but she insists on being involved and they both become clandestine resistance fighters whose weapons are simple messages about the evils of Nazism. They manage to write and distribute over 260 cards despite extensive investigative efforts to stop them. In the process, they resurrect their marital relationship. After almost two years of card-writing they are caught and together face Nazi justice.This film has two parallel narratives that start in opposition and end in convergence: one is Otto and Anna's actions, the other is the investigation. The first is focused on the smallness of the couple's actions in contrast to the enormous risk they are taking, like a pair of mice squeaking at roaring lions. The filming, colour palette and period setting are drab and lifeless; the atmosphere is paranoid with suspicion and mistrust; and the acting is subdued and understated. Brendan Gleeson and Emma Thompson are actors with broad performance repertoires but here they are minimalist in expression and Spartan in dialogue, with much being conveyed through furtive glances or avoided eye-contact. It is a slow-moving story, observant of small details in an alienated world. This has the effect of amplifying the intensity of Otto and Anna's actions. Close-ups of a pen leaving a trail of outrage on a small white card become powerful portraits of bravery that are ultimately futile as most of the cards were handed in to authorities. The couple's nemesis is a young German investigator (Daniel Bruhl) who pursues his work with ideological fervour for the Fuhrer but whose success turns into the film's most devastating moments of despair.This is a joyless story about humble heroism. Otto and Anna are emblematic of ordinary people dealing with tragedy and anger inside a world of fear and danger. Far from being mere victims, their small protests seriously unsettled the Nazi hierarchy and the closing scenes are a tribute to the power of their "small grains of sand".