Aimée & Jaguar (1999)

Best movie of this year hands down!

Admirable film.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

This unconventional German film is set in battle-torn Berlin in the final months of World War II, as a Jewish lesbian woman falls in love with the wife of a Nazi officer. Schrader and Kohler turn in fine performances in the title roles. The relationship between the two women, which is the whole focus of this movie, is not fully developed. It is not clear what the attraction is between them and why the relationship runs hot and cold. The story is told in flashbacks and the makeup artist deserves kudos for the convincing job of aging Schrader and Wokalek. The period sets are impressive and there's a lovely score but it goes on a bit too long.

Juliane Kohler was so stunningly beautiful as Eva Braun in DOWNFALL that I just had to see this movie to see her in action once again.Unfortunately, this movie is no DOWNFALL. Instead of grinding terror and tension, there's only a faint sense of malaise. The destruction of the Nazi state is presented as faintly annoying background noise rather than a cataclysmic event. The real focus of the film is on two women drawn together by lust -- a Jewish bohemian and a placid German housewife. But the two doomed lovers never really seem truly passionate, nor is there any sense of danger and terror all around.Maybe this story would have worked better if it had been set in the Weimar Republic instead of Nazi Germany. Then all the high-living party scenes with the dazzling Jewish heroine showing off her wit and irreverence in public would be more believable. And the placid, oblivious blonde housewife would be easier to forgive for her bland submission.

Aimee & Jaguar, in my opinion, is one of the best films i have ever seen. I have seen and admired many films dedicated to love and the hardships of all sorts of relationships. This film has touched me in such a powerful way. I have read the book, own the film, and constantly listen to the soundtrack so that i may fall in love with these two tremendous women, all over again. Though in these times we do not experience the misfortunes of such bloody wars from the past, women today, whatever their sexual preference, are still struggling to be themselves. There are many great loves out there, all of them unique, but there will never be anyone hurt, devoted, loved, and admired as Felice and Lilly were and still are, to one another. This is a must see movie.

The setting is Berlin during the last days of World War II. Aimée and Jaguar are nicknames for two women. Jaguar, or Felice Schragenheim, is played by Maria Schrader, a painfully slender, winsome, enigmatic, and devastatingly beautiful actress whose character rolls through this story like a loose cannon. She is well matched by Aimée, or Lilly Wust, played by Juliane Köhler, attractive but older, by turns lustful and distraught.To survive in difficult times, young Felice poses for nude photos, works in a newspaper office, and gives dance lessons. Lilly is a housewife, mother of four small children, and her husband is at the eastern front. She entertains single men while her children go to the zoo "again?" Felice conceives a passion for Lilly from afar and writes her a romantic letter, signed "Jaguar."I don't want to spoil the story, so I will say no more about it. This is a frankly sexy, exceedingly passionate movie based on a true story. The acting is spectacular, the recreation of time and place is convincing enough, and the music and photography are exemplary. In German with English subtitles. Highest recommendation.In a few scenes, especially during the first hour, I had the impression that I was getting the text of what was being said, but was missing the subtext--i.e., what was really going on. I plan to watch it again before sending it back to Netflix, something I've not done previously (though I came close with High Noon). If you suspect that I conceived a passion for Felice from afar, you'd be right; you might, too, if you see this movie. But see it also because it's simply excellent from beginning to end.Alan Nicoll