Imagine being sequestered to Hitler's compound where a lavish meal is prepared by his personal chef and then learning you’re there as a food taster for poison. That’s the premise behind Silvio Soldini’s World War II drama The Tasters, based on the award-winning bestselling novel At the Wolf's Table by Rosella Postorino.
In Eastern Prussia in 1943, Rosa Sauer (Elisa Schlott) flees Berlin to live with her in-laws in the countryside while her husband Gregor is off fighting in the war. One day a Nazi soldier arrives, puts her in a truck with other women, and takes them to Hitler’s compound known as the Wolf’s Lair. After being led in to a dining room with a prepared meal, the seven women soon learn they are “tasters” to ensure Hitler’s food isn’t poisoned. Despite having personal chef Krümel (Boris Aljinović) who keeps a close watch on the food, the Führer is extremely paranoid he will be poisoned.
While they are being paid for their work, the stress of risking their lives on a daily basis takes an emotional toll on these tasters. The women begin to bond, many who have husbands fighting in the war like Rosa. Meanwhile, Rosa starts having an affair with SS Officer Albert Ziegler (Max Riemelt), which proves to be mutually beneficial. Historical events happen in the background in discussions only, like Colonel Claus Graf Schenk von Stauffenberg’s assassination attempt on Hitler (Tom Cruise played Stauffenberg in the film Valkyrie covering that mission).
What’s so fascinating about The Tasters is how this is a little known part of history during World War II where Hitler forced women to test his food for poison, a horrific job to have anyone do. Schlott gives an emotional performance as Rosa, stoic at first due to her situation, and then more emotional as she bonds with the other tasters, especially Elfriede (Alma Hasun). Together these seven women experience a range of emotions including fear, anger, friendship and betrayal. Their plight as tasters presents a contradiction – war has brought poverty and hunger and now these women have two delicious meals a day, but the cost may be their lives.
Mauro Pagani’s score in the opening foreshadows the tragedy to come. There’s good tension when the women first arrive at the Nazi headquarters, not being told what they are doing there, while being led in to see doctors to ensure they’re healthy. They need to be in tip top shape to taste for poison. Renato Berta’s cinematography and Paola Bizzarri’s set design utilize a gray-blue world, similar to the Nazi soldiers’ uniforms, mirroring the bleak situation the tasters are in.
At times the pacing can feel a little slow, with some of the tasting scenes starting to feel repetitive, before more dramatic stakes are raised. Questions kept coming up like why weren’t the tasters a little more rebellious, along with why Rosa was having an affair with a Nazi officer. It all starts to come together by the third act though, with Gregor’s parents urging Rosa to leave, showing that while their son is indeed fighting for the Germans in the war, they don’t support it anymore. An epilogue states that German Margot Wölk confessed to a journalist in 2012 that she was the last taster to survive the war – Rosa is a fictionalized version of her from Postorino’s novel.
The Tasters premiered at the Bari International Film Festival (Italy) last year and opened in Italy, Switzerland and Belgium last year as well. It also screened at Italy On Screen at CIZM NYU (New York) in December of last year, Miami Jewish Film Festival (Florida) in January this year, and Atlanta Jewish Film Festival (Georgia) in February. The Tasters also screened this month at the East Bay International Jewish Film Festival in Pleasant Hill, California and will be available to screen online at their virtual festival from March 20-25 (restricted to surrounding counties in California). The film opened in UK & Irish cinemas on March 13. US Distributor Menemsha Films has not announced a US VOD or DVD date yet as the film is still screening on the festival circuit. Programmers for spring and summer film festivals should consider The Tasters. Recommended.
Why should public and academic libraries add this World War II drama to their collection?
The Tasters is ideal to add to both public and academic libraries, as it’s a film patrons will surely want to discover. While it’s currently screening on the US festival circuit, it’s mostly playing at smaller film festivals and hasn’t broken out into the larger festivals, so it hasn’t received much press coverage, making the film both a little known film and a little known story that deserves to be seen. World War II stories never seem to get old and discovering new aspects of the war is intriguing for audiences. This story shows that in addition to all the atrocities Hitler committed, he was also inhumane to his own people, forcing these women to taste for poison. Academic library acquisition is important for students studying history and World War II.
Is this World War II drama suitable for academic or community screenings?
The Tasters is ideal for showing in history courses that cover World War II, to show a little known story from the war. The film teaches about Antisemitism through the character of Elfriede (Alma Hasun) who Rosa befriends before discovering she’s Jewish, and then hides her secret and ultimately tries to help her against the Nazis who want her dead. Throughout Rosa’s story, the women also come together to help each other and share in their trauma. Though Rosa has an affair with SS Officer Ziegler, she uses that relationship to survive, teaching about survival in the worst of circumstances, and it’s ultimately the atrocities Ziegler admits to that changes her outlook on the war.
The film could foster more research into this story, like reading Rosella Postorino’s novel At the Wolf's Table. A student assignment could entail a class screening of the film and an assignment of reading the novel and writing a comparison paper on the two. This assignment could also be beneficial in film adaptation courses, to study how the novel was adapted to the screen.
As World War II also appeals to a general audience, The Tasters could be good for community screenings as well to teach about Hitler’s tasters and the inhumanity in that deed. While the film has not received an MPAA rating yet in the United States, The Tasters was classified with a 15 rating by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) – meaning ages 15 and up – which is close to an R rating by the MPAA in the United States (under 17 requires a parent or adult guardian). In addition to the war setting and terrifying situation the women find themselves in, the film also contains sexual situations and brief nudity, which should be taken into account with a warning for any screenings. For academic screenings, the film should be suitable for college students, and older high school students (with parental consent).
Press materials, including an in-depth Press Book with an introduction by director Silvio Soldini and production notes by producers Cristiana Mainardi and Lionello Cerri, are available for download from Menemsha Films.
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