Rosenstrasse (2003)

Director:

Margarethe von Trotta

Writers:

Pamela Katz (co-writer)
Margarethe von Trotta (writer)

Release Date:

18 September 2003 (Germany)

Genre:

Drama | War

Plot:

After the death of her father, Hannah becomes concerned with the strange behavior of her mother. As her mother's troubled childhood is revealed, Hannah realizes how little she ever knew.

Plot Keywords:

Jewish | Nazi Soldier | Anti Semitism | Racism | Human Relationship

Awards:

5 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Katja Riemann	...	Lena Fischer - age 33
Maria Schrader	...	Hannah Weinstein
Doris Schade	...	Lena Fischer - age 90
Jutta Lampe	...	Ruth Weinstein - age 60
Svea Lohde	...	Ruth - age 8
Jürgen Vogel	...	Arthur von Eschenbach
Martin Feifel	...	Fabian Fischer
Fedja van Huêt	...	Luis Marquez
Carola Regnier	...	Rachel Rosenbauer
Plien van Bennekom	...	Marian
Romijn Conen	...	Ben
Julia Eggert	...	Emily
Thekla Reuten	...	Klara Singer
Jutta Wachowiak	...	Frau Goldberg
Jan Decleir	...	Nathan Goldberg

Also Known As:

Rosenstraße (Germany) (poster title)
The Women of Rosenstrasse (Germany) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for mature thematic material, some violence and brief drug content.

Runtime:

Canada:136 min (Toronto International Film Festival) | Switzerland:136 min | USA:136 min | Argentina:136 min

Country:

Germany | Netherlands

Language:

German | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Switzerland:14 (canton of Zurich) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Singapore:NC-16 | Germany:12 (bw) | Netherlands:12 | Sweden:7 | USA:PG-13 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Finland:K-11

Filming Locations:

Bavaria Filmstudios, Geiselgasteig, Grünwald, Bavaria, Germany

Company:

Studio Hamburg Letterbox Filmproduktion

Trivia:

There are many places mentioned by street name in the movie. Rosenstraße was the site of the welfare office for the Jewish community located in Central Berlin, and this building was where the men were housed. Burgstrasse was the site of the SS Headquarters. PrinzAlbrecht Straße was the site of the Gestapo headquarters. Levetzowstraße was the site of the Liberal Synagogue. It was not destroyed in 1938, but was used in 1941 as one of the central collection points for Jews to be deported to concentration and death camps.

Movie Connections:

References Ein Walzer mit dir (1943)

Soundtrack:

Ich hab vielleicht noch nie geliebt

Rosensrasse Goebbels Motivation in Backing Down

Goebbels motivation in backing down was not explored. In the aftermath of Stalingrad the Reich had decided to go for 'total war'. This is referred to in the film. Part of this was to use women in the war effort, which Germany had not previously done to any great extent. An SS massacre of women would have faced Goebbels with a public relations disaster of massive proportion. His preference was to make the problem go away as quietly as possible, on the basis that the Jewish men could always be rounded up later. I understand the majority survived the war.

His other problem was that the 'Red' Berlin had never been very enthusiastically behind the Nazi cause and had to be handled cautiously. Again a massacre of women could have cost the Nazis what mediocre level of support they had in their capital city.

It was interesting that the majority of SS uniforms showed patches which indicated that the men wearing them were not of German nationality, but were from German origins in other countries such as Lithuania or Latvia