Rosenstrasse (2003)

In the cold Berlin winter of 1943 hundreds of women stood and waited in defiance of the Nazis. While countless Jews were being sent to concentration camps for execution Jewish husbands of Aryan wives suffered a different fate; they were separated from their families and imprisoned in a factory on a street named Rosenstrasse. On that street these women stood in protest in the name of love until they were reunited with their men. This is the striking story of Rosenstrasse: where the power of the human will stands inconquerable - for hope dignity and love.System Requirements:Run Time: 136 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: FOREIGN/LATIN Rating: PG-13 UPC: 043396044258 Manufacturer No: 04425 Product Description

Rosenstrasse

Rosenstrasse

I absolutely loved the movie. I highly recomend.

Fatima R. Fugate March 11, 2008

A shifting screenplay does not land us squarely on ROSENSTRASSE

I am a major fan of films that concern WW2 and especially the Holocaust and related topics.

ROSENSTRASSE is a film that,at its heart,concerns itself with the seven days in March 1943 in which Aryan women stood outside a building in Berlin in which their Jewish husbands were being held before their translation to the Auschwitz Camp. Hitherto, Jewish men's lives were "protected" under Nazi law by their marriage to Aryan women by having to work in German Armament Factories.This is a true story and worthy of complete attention. However, the director and screenplay writer have chosen to tell this story in a very confusing way involving way to many extraneous story lines and characters thus robbing it of its complete force. The narrative is non-linear and involves so many flashbacks and flash forwards in different people's lives that it is difficult to keep up with the various stories (especially reading subtitles).The DVD contains NO extras, which could have been very beneficial to aid in understanding this film better,especially as to why the director chose to dilute and confuse what could have been a much better and more focused film.For the price, I would not recommend purchasing this DVD unless you get it for under $4.00.It is worth only a rental at best. October 20, 2007

A street in Berlin, 1943 . . .

This German film revisits war-time Berlin and tells the fact-based story of non-Jewish women married to Jewish men, who after working at forced labor are separated from their wives and detained in a building on the Rosenstrasse of the film's title. Day and night, in the winter cold, the wives keep a vigil in the street, unable to make contact with their husbands and aware that they may be transported without notice to the concentration camps. The film focuses on a handful of the wives and the young daughter of a Jewish woman who is also being held captive.

Unlike many films of the Holocaust, there is little physical violence but frequent enough outbursts of anti-Semitism, as grim and anxious lives are lived under the boot heel of a merciless Gestapo. The entire story is set within a modern-day framework, as a young German-American Jewish woman comes to Berlin to unravel the mystery of her own mother's reticence about her war-time experience. We learn that she has lost her own mother but was sheltered herself by non-Jews, a concert pianist and her brother, who has been disabled while fighting on the Eastern Front.

At 2+ hours, the film moves slowly, and the mood of the time is reflected in somber, washed-out colors. Resolution when it comes is abrupt and not fully explained. Similarly, a secondary story about the young, modern-day Jewish woman's wish to marry a non-Jew is dealt with cursorily, and the conflict over it with her mother is resolved without explanation. Altogether, however, the film opens yet another window into a time and place that haunt memory and honors the resilience of those who resist tyranny. September 25, 2007

A Holocaust movie with a difference

For me, this movie is very different than other Holocaust movies, in that it explores the issue of what happened to Jewish spouses of Aryan women...the story itself is based on a true occurrence, and the movie begins with a wake...the widow is tormented by visions of her past in wartime Berlin & shows disapproval at her daughter's choice of a non-Jewish fiance...the daughter then discovers there is more to her mother's past than she was ever told, and travels to Germany to discover her mother's past...the story is told in flashbacks through reminiscences, and basically focusses on the plight of Aryan women in Berlin whose Jewish husbands have been confined in a place called Rosenstrasse...I won't give too much away, but I must say that for a slow-paced movie, it is quite gripping as we are kept guessing as to the final fate of the Jewish spouses...as for the acting, the characters from the past did an excellent job, their performances were very realistic, and heart-wrenching, especially the actress who plays the main role of Mrs Fabian Fischer, the Aryan wife. In the present day, the actress who plays the daughter who seeks to unearth her mother's past wasn't very convincing, but all in all the story itself makes up for other lacks in the movie, and it is definitely watchable for the unique plot. March 17, 2007

Love and Honour

Having read about the Rosenstrasse miracle in various books I rejoiced when somebody chose to make a movie about it. I eventually managed to get a copy.

It is an incident unique in the story of the Holocaust. Fanatical nazis in Berlin of all places were forced to return Jews they wished to deport to the Death Camps. It happened when they seized mixed marriage Jews as part of the Berlin Round up. And much to their astonishment, their German spouses showed up outside the place they were kept demanding their release.

Much to everybody's astonishment, they got it shortly aferwards.

This is their story.

I must confess I thought the New York scenes where the main character starts by meeting a relative her mother doesn't tell her about were rather flat and two dimensional. The modern German scenes weren't that bad but the scenes set during WWII Berlin were superb. Great costuming. Great scene organization and set design. Nice drama. Good character portrayal. A happy ending, something unique for Holocost films.

Overall, this is a great film. May 3, 2006

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