Aimée & Jaguar (1999)

90% of critics liked it
(48 reviews)
84% of users liked it
(4,809 ratings)

The opening film of the 49th International Berlin Film Festival in 1999, Aimée & Jaguar drew attention not only for the lesbian love story that it narrates, but equally for the political position of the lovers -- Aimée, the wife of a Nazi officer, and Jaguar, a Jewish journalist. The story is based… More The opening film of the 49th International Berlin Film Festival in 1999, Aimée & Jaguar drew attention not only for the lesbian love story that it narrates, but equally for the political position of the lovers -- Aimée, the wife of a Nazi officer, and Jaguar, a Jewish journalist. The story is based on the memoirs of Lilly Wust (the Aimée character), who is 85 and still living in Germany. In 1943, as Allied bombers leave Berlin in ruins, Lilly Wust Juliane Köhler earns a Cross of Motherhood for bringing up four children while husband Günther Detlev Buck is away fighting on the eastern front. She leads a bourgeois existence, with occasional love affairs on the side, and the bust of Hitler is a prominent decoration in their flat. When Lilly receives a love letter signed 'Jaguar,' she suspects a male admirer. But it is the self-confident Felice Schragenheim Maria Schrader who initiates this forbidden romance. A passionate love affair begins amidst the bombing raids and the threat of persecution. Madly in love, Lilly wants to divorce her husband, which causes a terrible storm, not just because her lover is a woman, but because she is Jewish and fighting for the Resistance. But nothing stops the love-blind Lilly. The two women make a pact of love and marriage and try to block out the reality of war and persecution; however, the Gestapo soon catches up with them. Aimée & Jaguar is based on Erica Fischer's best-selling book, published in 1994 and translated into eleven languages; the real life Lilly Wust was 80 years old when she told Erica Fischer her story. Maria Schrader and Juliane Köhler shared the Silver Bear for the Best Actress at the 49th Berlin International Film Festival, for their roles in Aimée & Jaguar, while the film received the Teddy Award, given to films dealing with gay and lesbian issues. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 2 hr. 7 min.
Directed By: Max Färberböck
Written By: Erika Fischer, Max Färberböck, Rona Munro
Genres: Drama, Romance, Art House & International

In Theaters: Aug 11, 2000 Wide
On DVD: Oct 23, 2001
Studio: Zeitgeist

Critic Reviews

Jane Sumner, Dallas Morning News
A vivid slice of life -- and love -- during the 1944 Allied bombardment of Berlin.
Charles Taylor, Salon.com
The film ... isn't up to the complexities the story raises, but it's a consistently engrossing piece of work.
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times
This is more than a same-sex success, it's a most affecting, most sensual on-screen love affair, period.
Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly
Färberböck's engrossing debut conveys the devotion between Aimée (Juliane Köhler) and Felice Schragenheim (Maria Schrader).
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
Schrader plays Felice with a kind of doomed and reckless bravery.
Joe Baltake, Sacramento Bee
It reminds us that the Holocaust continues to be a vital source for singular, inspirational stories.
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
A well acted, sensual tale of lesbian romance set against the tumultuous setting of WWII and the Holocaust.
Andrew L. Urban, Urban Cinefile
It's a breathtakingly beautiful film, never mawkish, never less than vibrantly real and never more affecting than when it explores the nature of a love that 'dare not speak its name', not in Nazi Germany
Louise Keller, Urban Cinefile
Startlingly poignant, Aimée and Jaguar is a story about dreams. If you have ever dreamed, don't miss it.
Cole Smithey, ColeSmithey.com
Powerful and touching. Good touching.
Pablo Villaca, Cinema em Cena
A história (real) é interessante, mas o roteiro e a direção são enfadonhos. Grandes atuações em um filme que não causa impacto, apenas sono.
Harry Guerin, RTE Interactive (Dublin, Ireland)
Theatre director Max Färberböck could hardly have picked a more intense and heartbreaking story for his cinema debut.
Merle Bertrand, Film Threat
An enchanting and provocative love story.
Niki Patton, Martha's Vineyard Times (Massachusetts)
...a rich melange of tumultous and sensual events. The story, acting, direction, set design and costuming fluidly combine to give a passionate portrait of living and loving on the edge of despair in a place and time where there was no tomorrow.

Read all 14 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Megan S

i really liked this movie. Another one of my Library Media finds.
Ina S

Great, great film. Touching, historically mostly accurate and great acting.