Forbidden (1984 film)
Encyclopedia
Forbidden is a 1984 drama film
directed by Anthony Page
and starring Jacqueline Bisset
, Jürgen Prochnow
and Irene Worth
. The plot is loosely based on a true story originally told in the non-fiction book The Last Jews In Berlin by Leonard Gross about a countess who hides her Jewish boyfriend in her apartment in World War II
. It was a co-production between Britain, West Germany and the United States. It was broadcast on television in America, but released in cinemas in other countries.
, Germany on the eve of World War II
. Ostracized by her family due to her liberal
views and opposition to the Nazi government
, she lives alone, independent and strong-willed. The film opens with Nina studying at the library the day Germany
invades Czecheslovakia. She is angered and tells a classmate she knows the reasons Hitler gave for the invasion (to allegedly rescue ethnic Germans) are a pack of lies.
One day while on errands Nina witnesses Brownshirts attacking a vendor. She also sees a man attempting to help the vendor. She confronts them and demands to know why he is being attacked. They say they beat him because he sells to Jews. She tells him to leave the man alone or she will report them to her brother-in-law, a high-ranking Nazi official. Later, while attending an informal party hosted by her friend, she recognizes the man who came to the assistance of the vendor. Her friend, Erica, tells her that his name is Fritz Friedlander and he is a writer. She is immediately attracted to him, but Erica warns Nina that it would be illegal to date him under the Nuremberg Laws
because he is Jewish. The headstrong Nina ignores this advice, however, and begins a relationship with him.
They must meet at one of her summer homes to escape discovery. Fritz's mother Ruth (Worth) is vehemently opposed to their relationship, as she fears for her son's life. Fritz is arrested and sent to a concentration camp to do forced labor, but is released. As the Nazis begin to round up and deport Jews, Nina suggests that Fritz go into hiding in her flat. If someone comes in while he's there, he must hide underneath the sofa, which has a compartment expressly designed by Nina for such a situation. She offers to hide Ruth as well, but Ruth is too terrified to accept the offer. Fritz writes a fake suicide
note that his mother takes to Gestapo headquarters.
Later, Nina takes in another Jewish man named Max. She feels that in addition to saving him, she can provide a companion for Fritz. One day, Nina comes home from school to find Fritz and Max singing Jewish songs at the top of their lungs. Max is forced to find another hiding place. All the while, Nina must deal with her overtly curious neighbor and cleaning lady, Frau Schmidt.
Nina discovers that she is pregnant. Unable to claim Fritz as a father, she asks a Swedish friend, rumored to be gay
, to register as the baby's father, as this will make him look heterosexual and thus avoid Nazi persecution. Nina then finds out that Ruth has been called up by the Nazis. Because her husband was a judge and served in World War I
, she will be sent to the "privileged" camp Theresienstadt. When Fritz and Nina come to say goodbye, Ruth realizes that Nina is pregnant, she insists that no matter what happens, they must survive for their unborn child.
The arrests of Berlin's Jewish population escalates, as do air attacks from the Allies. Nina goes into premature labor and is rushed to the hospital. The baby, in an incubator, dies when the hospital loses power after being hit by a bomb. Heartbroken, Fritz sneaks out of his hiding place to see Nina and his dead son's casket.
Unbeknownst to Fritz, Nina is working in the Resistance
, aiding Jews and other people hounded by the Nazis. One night, she is discovered attempting to hide some Jews in a warehouse and is shot. The bullet only grazes her face, and she escapes, but the incident disturbs her. When Fritz asks what happened, she tells him she was kicked by a horse while at veterinary school.
Suffering from cabin fever
, Fritz sneaks out on a warm spring day and goes to his old neighborhood. While sitting on a park bench, he is joined by a mysterious gentleman who engages Fritz in conversation. The man tells Fritz that he is a Jew-catcher, a Jew hired by the Nazis to find other Jews who are evading capture. When the man asks Fritz if he realized that he was sitting in what used to be a Jewish neighborhood, Fritz claims ignorance and says his goodbyes. The man starts to follow him and Fritz begins to run, with the man in hot pursuit. He barely escapes.
When he returns home, he finds Nina desperately waiting for him. He tells her what happened. She has worse news for him; the Resistance has discovered that the Nazis are taking the Jews to Nazi death camps in occupied Poland
and gassing
them. She still believes his mother is still safe in Theresienstadt. She then tells him about a train going to Switzerland
. She and her friends are smuggling several Jews onboard. She professes her love for him, but wants him to go where he will be safe. That night, they go to the train depot, where he and other refugees are placed in boxes with a small supply of food and water. As she leaves, she sees Fritz running up to her; he loves her so much that he's unable to leave her. Together they return home.
By the winter of 1944-45, Berlin is in ruins and it is clear that Germany is losing the war. Nina's flat has been badly damaged by bombs, but is still habitable. She finds a little girl who has lost her family in a bombing raid. Her name is Lucie and Nina takes her to live with them. She tells Lucie that Fritz is their "secret friend" and she must never tell anyone about him. Things are fine until one day several Nazis appear at her home and accuse her of hiding Jews in her apartment. They search the place, finding no one. The head Nazi asks her about her couch and what is in it. Nina says it hasn't been opened in years, so she doesn't know. The officer then shoots it several times, destroying the lock, and depart. Nina opens the sofa only to find that Fritz was not in it; he'd hidden in a broom closet.
Germany is invaded by the Soviet Union
. Nina knows that the Russians want revenge for the millions of countrymen murdered by the Third Reich. Attempting to hide in the cellar, they are caught by the Russians and forced outside. Nina yells to the soldiers that Fritz is Jewish, but they ignore her. Once outside, Fritz is forced to kneel as the Russians prepare to shoot him. He starts singing "Shalom Israel". The Russian soldier lowers his gun and says that he is Jewish too. During the voice-over while the camera pans over a bombed-out and devastated Berlin, Nina tells the audience that Ruth Friedlander is eventually transferred from Theresienstadt to Auschwitz, where she is gassed. Eventually she and Fritz marry; Fritz dies in 1973.
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by Anthony Page
Anthony Page
Anthony Page is a British stage- and film director.-Filmography:*Male of the Species 3-episode TV special that featured Sir Laurence Olivier, Paul Scofield, Sean Connery and Michael Caine. The Scofield episode, Emlyn, won an Emmy Award...
and starring Jacqueline Bisset
Jacqueline Bisset
Jacqueline Bisset is an English actress. She has been nominated for four Golden Globe Awards and an Emmy Award. She is known for her roles in the films Bullitt , Airport , The Deep , Class , and the TV series Nip/Tuck in 2006...
, Jürgen Prochnow
Jürgen Prochnow
Jürgen Prochnow is a German actor. His most well-known roles internationally have been as the sympathetic submarine captain in Das Boot , Duke Leto Atreides I in Dune , the minor, but important role of Neo-Stalinist dictator General Ivan Radek in Air Force One and the villain Maxwell Dent in...
and Irene Worth
Irene Worth
Irene Worth, CBE was an American stage and screen actress who became one of the leading stars of the English and American theatre. -Early life:...
. The plot is loosely based on a true story originally told in the non-fiction book The Last Jews In Berlin by Leonard Gross about a countess who hides her Jewish boyfriend in her apartment in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. It was a co-production between Britain, West Germany and the United States. It was broadcast on television in America, but released in cinemas in other countries.
Plot
German countess Nina von Hadler (Bisset) is a student in veterinary medicine in BerlinBerlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Germany on the eve of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Ostracized by her family due to her liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
views and opposition to the Nazi government
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
, she lives alone, independent and strong-willed. The film opens with Nina studying at the library the day Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
invades Czecheslovakia. She is angered and tells a classmate she knows the reasons Hitler gave for the invasion (to allegedly rescue ethnic Germans) are a pack of lies.
One day while on errands Nina witnesses Brownshirts attacking a vendor. She also sees a man attempting to help the vendor. She confronts them and demands to know why he is being attacked. They say they beat him because he sells to Jews. She tells him to leave the man alone or she will report them to her brother-in-law, a high-ranking Nazi official. Later, while attending an informal party hosted by her friend, she recognizes the man who came to the assistance of the vendor. Her friend, Erica, tells her that his name is Fritz Friedlander and he is a writer. She is immediately attracted to him, but Erica warns Nina that it would be illegal to date him under the Nuremberg Laws
Nuremberg Laws
The Nuremberg Laws of 1935 were antisemitic laws in Nazi Germany introduced at the annual Nuremberg Rally of the Nazi Party. After the takeover of power in 1933 by Hitler, Nazism became an official ideology incorporating scientific racism and antisemitism...
because he is Jewish. The headstrong Nina ignores this advice, however, and begins a relationship with him.
They must meet at one of her summer homes to escape discovery. Fritz's mother Ruth (Worth) is vehemently opposed to their relationship, as she fears for her son's life. Fritz is arrested and sent to a concentration camp to do forced labor, but is released. As the Nazis begin to round up and deport Jews, Nina suggests that Fritz go into hiding in her flat. If someone comes in while he's there, he must hide underneath the sofa, which has a compartment expressly designed by Nina for such a situation. She offers to hide Ruth as well, but Ruth is too terrified to accept the offer. Fritz writes a fake suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
note that his mother takes to Gestapo headquarters.
Later, Nina takes in another Jewish man named Max. She feels that in addition to saving him, she can provide a companion for Fritz. One day, Nina comes home from school to find Fritz and Max singing Jewish songs at the top of their lungs. Max is forced to find another hiding place. All the while, Nina must deal with her overtly curious neighbor and cleaning lady, Frau Schmidt.
Nina discovers that she is pregnant. Unable to claim Fritz as a father, she asks a Swedish friend, rumored to be gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
, to register as the baby's father, as this will make him look heterosexual and thus avoid Nazi persecution. Nina then finds out that Ruth has been called up by the Nazis. Because her husband was a judge and served in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, she will be sent to the "privileged" camp Theresienstadt. When Fritz and Nina come to say goodbye, Ruth realizes that Nina is pregnant, she insists that no matter what happens, they must survive for their unborn child.
The arrests of Berlin's Jewish population escalates, as do air attacks from the Allies. Nina goes into premature labor and is rushed to the hospital. The baby, in an incubator, dies when the hospital loses power after being hit by a bomb. Heartbroken, Fritz sneaks out of his hiding place to see Nina and his dead son's casket.
Unbeknownst to Fritz, Nina is working in the Resistance
German Resistance
The German resistance was the opposition by individuals and groups in Germany to Adolf Hitler or the National Socialist regime between 1933 and 1945. Some of these engaged in active plans to remove Adolf Hitler from power and overthrow his regime...
, aiding Jews and other people hounded by the Nazis. One night, she is discovered attempting to hide some Jews in a warehouse and is shot. The bullet only grazes her face, and she escapes, but the incident disturbs her. When Fritz asks what happened, she tells him she was kicked by a horse while at veterinary school.
Suffering from cabin fever
Cabin fever
Cabin fever is an idiomatic term for a claustrophobic reaction that takes place when a person or group is isolated and/or shut in a small space, with nothing to do, for an extended period...
, Fritz sneaks out on a warm spring day and goes to his old neighborhood. While sitting on a park bench, he is joined by a mysterious gentleman who engages Fritz in conversation. The man tells Fritz that he is a Jew-catcher, a Jew hired by the Nazis to find other Jews who are evading capture. When the man asks Fritz if he realized that he was sitting in what used to be a Jewish neighborhood, Fritz claims ignorance and says his goodbyes. The man starts to follow him and Fritz begins to run, with the man in hot pursuit. He barely escapes.
When he returns home, he finds Nina desperately waiting for him. He tells her what happened. She has worse news for him; the Resistance has discovered that the Nazis are taking the Jews to Nazi death camps in occupied Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
and gassing
Gas chamber
A gas chamber is an apparatus for killing humans or animals with gas, consisting of a sealed chamber into which a poisonous or asphyxiant gas is introduced. The most commonly used poisonous agent is hydrogen cyanide; carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide have also been used...
them. She still believes his mother is still safe in Theresienstadt. She then tells him about a train going to Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. She and her friends are smuggling several Jews onboard. She professes her love for him, but wants him to go where he will be safe. That night, they go to the train depot, where he and other refugees are placed in boxes with a small supply of food and water. As she leaves, she sees Fritz running up to her; he loves her so much that he's unable to leave her. Together they return home.
By the winter of 1944-45, Berlin is in ruins and it is clear that Germany is losing the war. Nina's flat has been badly damaged by bombs, but is still habitable. She finds a little girl who has lost her family in a bombing raid. Her name is Lucie and Nina takes her to live with them. She tells Lucie that Fritz is their "secret friend" and she must never tell anyone about him. Things are fine until one day several Nazis appear at her home and accuse her of hiding Jews in her apartment. They search the place, finding no one. The head Nazi asks her about her couch and what is in it. Nina says it hasn't been opened in years, so she doesn't know. The officer then shoots it several times, destroying the lock, and depart. Nina opens the sofa only to find that Fritz was not in it; he'd hidden in a broom closet.
Germany is invaded by the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. Nina knows that the Russians want revenge for the millions of countrymen murdered by the Third Reich. Attempting to hide in the cellar, they are caught by the Russians and forced outside. Nina yells to the soldiers that Fritz is Jewish, but they ignore her. Once outside, Fritz is forced to kneel as the Russians prepare to shoot him. He starts singing "Shalom Israel". The Russian soldier lowers his gun and says that he is Jewish too. During the voice-over while the camera pans over a bombed-out and devastated Berlin, Nina tells the audience that Ruth Friedlander is eventually transferred from Theresienstadt to Auschwitz, where she is gassed. Eventually she and Fritz marry; Fritz dies in 1973.