A fact-based, stirring, tragic lesbians-under-the-Third-Reich romantic tear-jerker, Aimée & Jaguar vividly immerses the audience in the passionate, surprising love between a beautiful Jewish woman (Maria Schrader) and a Nazi officer's wife (Juliane Köhler) amidst the perils of under siege Berlin circa 1943. Cinematically masterful (from costume details to the ironic beauty of bombers silhouetted against red, heavy skies), the film is unfortunately plagued by confusing narrative ambiguities: the relationships between the characters are muddy, with Schrader's participation in the Jewish underground barely alluded to, and Köhler seeming strangely detached from her life. If you can fill in the blanks that first-time director (and co-screenwriter) Max Färberböck seems to willfully ignore, the film may well have a deep emotional impact. If, on the other hand, you can't (like me), you'll wonder if you fell asleep during some critical revelation without realizing it. Optional. (R. Blackwelder)
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