This is very accurate film of the way the people of Berlin were treated by many of the Russians. Very well acted by the ensemble. Even with subtitles I found the film very good. The lead actress, Nina was outstanding with her facial actions of a woman in such distress and trying to regain some dignity. The ongoing eye contact with the Major really drove home the relationship they had. The Major's defending the people against his own troops and yet trying to remain in control was evident as a struggle. One can only imagine living in such conditions and trying to survive. This retribution against the citizens seemed right to the invading troops for what was perpetrated on their country by the German troops. This is a very true account of humanity vs inhuman acts.

Pure, boring ahistorical Euro-trash. With the fall of the Berlin Wall and the victory of Western Capitalism, the West is rewriting history. All films are propaganda. Film costs millions to make. Bankers/Financiers are not going to finance films where they teach working class people their own history. Period. The film doesn't work on a historical level nor as an artistic cinematic endeavor.From the point of view of history: Many family members & neighbors lived in Nazi Germany. This story is purely fictional. Were there any Russian soldiers who raped German women? Of course. American soldiers who raped German women? Of course. In fact, some women are being raped as we speak whether on the streets of New York City, Rome, or China. The relevant question to ask was whether the Soviet government ever encouraged or legalized rape during WW2? The answer is: Absolutely, not! Let's look at the time period: World War 2 was coming to an end and all of Eastern Europe went socialist. France, Italy, Germany, and Greece were also going to go socialist. The Finance Bankers of the US and Great Britain wanted to stop this from happening. Thus the Marshall Plan was created. It was a battle between the East and West for the hearts and minds of not only the East Germans, but the Central Europeans. If Russian soldiers were raping millions of East German women as this film falsely show, why did East Germany become socialist and remain socialist for over 40 years? Why are East Germans; particularly East German women protesting by the hundreds of thousands to restore socialism there? From the prospective of artistic endeavor: Because a film may have been created as a piece of propaganda doesn't mean the production values need to be low are unwatchable. Regardless of how I feel about Nazi Germany, many of their film productions like Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will were masterpieces of their time that still resonant to today's audience. Lousy direction, abysmal acting, horrible cinematography, and poor script make this film unwatchable. The cinematography is shot in an almost gray pallor. Why? I don't know. Was the world black and white before 1960? The script and dialogue is silly and vulgar beyond belief. I'm ashamed and my German Protestant Family would have been even more ashamed. To give just one of several examples: An old lady willingly raped repeatedly by Russian soldiers comments how Russian men love having sex with her because as she depicts with her hand her vagina is small like a pea; unlike Ukrainian women who have vaginas the size of grapefruits. First, why would any young soldier, let alone many, want to rape ugly, old women old enough to be their grandmother? It's ridiculous! More over the overt racism against Ukrainian women is offensive and the dialogue just plain smut. Women didn't speak like this when I was a young woman in NYC in the 1990's and they for sure didn't speak this way in sexually repressed post-war Germany.One last thing before I end my review: A relevant question to ask is why certain films are financed and not others? This was a film destined to flop at the box office, so why would Bankers finance bombs ? Simple: This was the period when Austerity began and workers throughout Europe were having their worker rights' destroyed, pensions decimated, and so on. The film's purpose is to make people doubt the possibility that a better alternative is possible, so people continue to accept the tyranny of the Robber-Baron, Finance Capitalists 1%. By demonizing the Soviet Union, the 1% is trying to indoctrinate into the population that all alternatives are worse. 1 Star-Rotten. Pure trash, if it would have been created to be trashy Euro-porn, it would have been less trashy.

Being of German blood and having a mother who actually lived through the experience of living in Berlin as the Russian armies marched in, I was looking forward to a film that mirrored the experiences that she lived through. She joined to watch and disappeared about half an hour into the movie. Germans at the time thought of Russians as brutal subhumans and that was part of the justification for conquering & enslaving them so that the more deserving master race could take over their lands. Looks like some still have that attitude. My mother does not, nor do most of her friends who also experienced the war from various parts of Berlin and Germany. Sure rapes did happen, but not to the extent that this movie portrays where every day consisted endless Russian abuses. My mother was not raped once, nor any of her friends. The Russian soldiers were human - some good, some bad - no different than any other human beings. She tells the story of an extremely drunk Russian soldier invading the basement they were hiding in as their first contact. Yes he did drag a woman off into the corner, no doubt a terrifying experience. But then before he could do any damage he fell asleep & started snoring.

I sat through this movie for almost 1 hour watching filthy soldiers rape rape rape rape. This must be some sort of fetish film, for strange people to get off on.I found this movie totally useless. I know the strong have power over the weak, but this movie pushes the envelope over the hill and beyond.As a man, I do Not have to force myself on anyone, nor do I. I get it, Berlin was mostly taken over by Russian soldiers, mean rotten ones, using woman as sex objects. It's horrible, and I feel sick watching the implication of it in the shadows and behind closed doors. There should have been so much more subject matter to this film, but no, for those who are excited by this trash, the directors decided to keep it centered only on the forced sexual advances on women. Worst titillation film ever. The producers,directors and those who payed to have this film made, should feel very badly about themselves. I am so mad I watched this rotten movie for as long as I did.