Filip

I was totally absorbed watching this movie. It was beautifully produced, very well cast, and kept me guessing. I liked that fact that the moral issues weren't presented as black and white and people on both sides are shown exploiting situations for personal gain or revenge. I've watched dozens of movies about WWII, but none quite like this: none which seemed so real and yet so artistic, so full of surprises and yet so believable, and most of all, one with such a complex central character for whom I felt so much empathy in spite of his moments of cruelty. And I agree with one of the other reviewers that the climax of the movie is tremendous.

Unusual angle for a WW2 story with a specific refugee situation I have never seen evoked in a WW2 movie. The Polish young man at the center of this story is a difficult "hero" to like in spite of his obvious plight, because of his brutally hard shell and the death wish at time that seems to motivate his acts against his survival skills. But his moral evolution can be understood well enough, and the unknowns in his trajectory can be easily imagined. Meanwhile life in the Stuttgart hotel where he works in 1943 as a presumed French waiter is a microcosm of what happens to Germany as despair, decay, food scarcity, army defeats and survival needs vs morality sketch the end in sight for the crumbling nazi empire. I liked how the movie mixed German, Polish, French, Italian and (maybe?) yiddish dialogues seamlessly. Subtitles in my eyes are not a problem but an enhancement to a story like that. It is a story of survival in a foreign land under brutal circumstances: varied languages are a necessary part of the hostile landscape. The actor who plays the main role is perfect in his ability to charm and scare at the same time.

After having seen over 200+ movies and shows about the second world war, I have actually never seen what this movie so clearly shows... During the peak of warfare - i.e. As of 1942 - many german men already perished at the eastern front or are still on active duty in some non-german country. So, that basically leaves many german cities with a lot more women than men. And as a young adult single male, residing in a large city like Frankfurt must have gathered a lot of attention from the female counterpart. And that's regardless of the women being single or married, with their husband serving in the army or SS.

Based on true events, this movie is about life as a non-german "foreigner" in Frankfurt. It shows how german people see relationships with non-germans. A showcase of not only german discrimination, but even more so the cruel practices of the SS (Gestapo), it makes one aware of how evil humanity can be to its own kind.

A combination of very good acting and some very convincing movie sets of the 1940's era, the movie "transports" the viewer to Frankfurt during WW2.

Overall, this movie deserves a score of 7.4/10, just barely missing the point where it would have received an 8-star IMDb rating.

I was going to abandon watching it after the propaganda-style beginning, but I'm glad I continued watching, as all the remaining part of the movie was unexpectedly original and devoid of clichés. The naked bodies and the love / sex scenes are beautifully filmed. The main actor does a terrific job, showing a very wide range of feelings, from ironical debonair nonchalance to despair beyond tears. The entire cast is quite good, the cinematography recreates a believable atmosphere of the years in which the German people were beginning to realise they were going to lose the war, in spite of all the methodical atrocities they perpetrated or merely witnessed. Quite an unexpected ending...

Am rating this a 6/10 simply for the good cinematography.

If the idea is to show a lothario type character who go around seducing women but can't come to terms with the comparatively lucky position he is in compared to his fellow persecuted Jews, then the director simply got to find a good looking guy to make it believable!

Having women fawn over the odd weasel-ey looking bloke playing the main character is just silly-laughable. I guffawed quite a lot throughout with all these actresses having to pretend he's a sexy good looking hunk when he's totally not! Haha!!

Totally ruined the whole movie which in my mind is just a way to throw away some million$ to make a Naked Gun running gag. 😂