(Le assaggiatrici)
Country: IT/BEL/SW
Technical: col 123m
Director: Silvio Soldini
Cast: Elisa Schlott, Max Riemelt, Alma Hasun, Nicolo Pasetti
Synopsis:
In East Prussia, 1943, not far from Hitler's bunker, 'The Lion's Den', seven healthy young German women are selected to taste the führer's food whenever he is in residence. One of them, recently arrived from Berlin, is the object of initial hostility, but her resilience and bravery ensure her survival.
Review:
Based on a memoir by Rosella Postorino, this is more than one of those 'good German' stories made to make us feel better about the war. All the elements that went to make up National Socialism's essential evil are here in microcosm, embodied by seven women and one Nazi officer. The violent string music drives home the psychological horror of their predicament, where ironically their gravest danger lies in each other rather than the delicacies put before them. The months and seasons flow by perhaps too deliberately, but tension is maintained right up to the final freeze frame.
(Le assaggiatrici)
Country: IT/BEL/SW
Technical: col 123m
Director: Silvio Soldini
Cast: Elisa Schlott, Max Riemelt, Alma Hasun, Nicolo Pasetti
Synopsis:
In East Prussia, 1943, not far from Hitler's bunker, 'The Lion's Den', seven healthy young German women are selected to taste the führer's food whenever he is in residence. One of them, recently arrived from Berlin, is the object of initial hostility, but her resilience and bravery ensure her survival.
Review:
Based on a memoir by Rosella Postorino, this is more than one of those 'good German' stories made to make us feel better about the war. All the elements that went to make up National Socialism's essential evil are here in microcosm, embodied by seven women and one Nazi officer. The violent string music drives home the psychological horror of their predicament, where ironically their gravest danger lies in each other rather than the delicacies put before them. The months and seasons flow by perhaps too deliberately, but tension is maintained right up to the final freeze frame.
