“Extraordinary…..redemptive” is the way in which Penguin describes Alone in Berlin by Hans Fallada, on the front cover, and it is hard to argue against that opinion.
The story is relatively straightforward, and is based upon real events. The son of an ordinary couple living in wartime Berlin is killed. They do not feel the elation that other Germans feel over the successful invasion of France. Tthey feel the loss of their son, and for what?
The Quangels decide to carry out little acts of resistance, writing messages against the regime on postcards and leaving them in public places for people to read. Questioning the regime is of course treasonable in Nazi Germany, and punishable by death, but they believe that these little acts of resistance will influence other people and that if enough little people believe that the regime is wrong, the regime will fall.
Alone in Berlin is really about the small characters. The heroes, the Quangels, are little people, not entirely lacking in heroic character, but not obvious choices for the lead characters in a major novel. There are a host of other small characters who play an important part in the novel, the dead son’s former fiancé, a petty crook, the Gestapo officer investigating the postcard crimes.
Purely by chance, at the time I was reading the book, I also saw the film on TV, starring Emma Thompson and Brendan Gleeson. The film had at best a lukewarm reception, and perhaps suffers from stripping the story of the much of the involvement of the smaller characters. Possibly it is important for the visual flow of the story to concentrate on the main characters and story, but to take away the smaller characters is to detract from the impact of the book. The message of the story is that small acts of defiance can and do have an impact, small ripples extending ever larger over a pond, and draw more and more people into its sphere. At the end, we ask ourselves are the little acts of defiance of the Quangels a waste of time and not noticed by the people they hoped to reach, or do they triumph, even in death?
Another criticism of the film is that the depiction of Berlin does not match the intensity of the book, and is far too clean and tidy for a city at War. True, but slightly unfair. I would be surprised if the film’s budget would stretch as far as rebuilding a war-torn Berlin. The City now is incredibly clean and tidy, running with typical German efficiency. It is very hard to see anything of war time Berlin in the modern city. The City does play an important role in the book, creating atmosphere and suspense, but the film concentrates purely on the story of the Quangels. Pretty much everything else can be discarded, and that includes a realistic depiction of wartime Berlin. I refer to modern Berlin in my blog post on Berlin in this blog and also on my travel website, http://www.notjusttravel.com/anthony-kingsley/willkommen-bienvenue-welcome-to-berlin/
In conclusion this is an important book, with a message that is just as relevant today as it was in the 1940s. It is a perfectly acceptable film, which suffers from a comparison with such a strong book. Read it and Watch it!
