A German film from 1988, The Actress (Die Schauspielerin), directed by Siegfried Kuhn, is about an emotionally vulnerable but also strong-minded theatre actress (Corinna Harfouche) who discards her career in Nazi Germany in order to be with her relocated Jewish beau (Andre Hennicke). Strange times, with their ludicrous (anti-Jewish) propaganda, drive the actress to do some strange things. A major theme in the film is that political injustice, political evil, works on the mind. Indeed, a person may even embrace what is fatal.
An East German production, Kuhn’s opus is subtle, unpretentious and lovely-looking. Harfouche is extraordinary: talk about power, incisiveness and personality!
(In German with English subtitles)
