The Woman and the Stranger

Rainer Simon's 1984 film is notable for being the only East German production to win the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival (during the Cold War era, no less). Based on the novel Karl and Anna by Leonhard Frank, The Woman and the Stranger focuses on a pair of German POWs in a Russian labor camp during World War I. Richard (Peter Zimmermann) speaks endlessly of his wife, Anna, to the unmarried Karl (Joachim Lätsch). Before the war ends, Richard is removed from the facility, and upon his eventual release, Karl travels to the city where Anna (Kathrin Waligura) resides. Anna has received word that Richard died at another prison, so Karl assumes her husband's name and role. Later she will discover that she was misinformed. Despite strong performances by Lätsch as the lovesick ex-prisoner and Waligura as the isolated spouse who is too eager to resume a normal married life, The Woman and the Stranger ends up being too predictable for its own good. The film also suffers from a dreary style, while the inclusion of black-and-white sequences feels like a gimmick rather than a genuine artistic statement. DVD extras include a 2000 interview with Simon. Optional. (P. Hall)