A LOVE IN GERMANY

Polish director Andrzej Wajda has been internationally reknowned ever since the completion of his post-war trilogy ("A Generation," "Ashes and Diamonds," "Kanal") in 1957. The impact of Wajda's "A Man of Iron" in 1981 made his international status a threat to the Polish government after its military takeover. "Danton" was made in France in 1982 and in 1983 Wajda was replaced as artistic director of his union and as president of the Association of Polish Filmmakers as well. A LOVE IN GERMANY is a French/German production, et in a small German town near the Swiss border. Through probing interviews with the townspeople, a man traces a love affair begun 40 years earlier between Paulina (Hanna Schygulla) and Stani (Piotr Lysak), a Polish P.O.W.: Paulina is a German shopkeeper whose husband is away at war. Stani helps with the heavy work in the shop and the two form an erotic bond that defies that Nazi regime's laws against fraternizing with non-Aryans. Their almost flaunted passion is perhaps heightened by the risks of being caught. Through the treachery of a neighbor (Marie-Christine Barrault), an incriminating letter reaches the Gestapo. The lovers' fate is doomed in this chilling exploration of ordinary Germans' behavior under Nazi control.



"A LOVE IN GERMANY is one of the most moving, provocative, dramatically sustained films that Mr. Wajda has ever made. . .one of the Polish director's finest films in recent years. . .Schygulla's presence transforms the movie into a cinematic event. . .a triumphant performance." -Vincent Canby, The New York Times