Germany Pale Mother

Synopsis

The film is narrated by Anna, a German woman who tells the story of her parents before, during and after World War II. Her mother, Lene, meets her father, Hans, and they fall in love and marry. As the war breaks out, Hans is conscripted into the army and Lene suffers through air raids in Berlin. Her relationship with Hans becomes increasingly strained during his infrequent returns home on leave. She gives birth to Anna, and undergoes great hardship to keep her safe, crossing a forest in winter to escape to her family in the country, and later living a life of poverty in the ruins of postwar Berlin. As life returns to normal after the war, she and Hans are unable to rekindle their love, and Lene spirals into depression, exacerbated by the affliction of a crippling facial paralysis. The film ends with the suicidal Lene facing a hopeless future.