Review of Marriage in the Shadows

"Ehe im Schatten" or "Marriage in the Shadows" and there are a handful more title under which you may (or may not) find this film we have here. It runs for slightly under 100 minutes and was written and directed by Kurt Maetzig. The original novel the film is based on is by Hans Schweikart. This is the story of a married couple and how the Nazis' rise to power and ideology makes more and more of a dangerous impact on their marriage. They are both actors, but as the woman is Jewish, her career quickly goes south because of her religion and origins. The interesting thing is how it all unfolds. Initially, we hear for example that the characters think it's nothing serious or that the husband says he will easily use his popularity to protect her, but they clearly underestimated the situation. Unfortunately, they absolutely did not make the most of this premise. There are moments when it is an okay little film, but there are also many lengths and almost all the supporting character are pretty bland and uninteresting, so every time the story moves away for a second directly from the couple, it's just not worth seeing at all. This is especially disappointing as Maetzig, who by the way lived for over a hundred years, had quite a few pretty talented actors at his disposal, such as Paul Klinger, Ilse Steppat (who is most known today for playing a Bond villain shortly before her untimely death) or Hans Leibelt and actually some others you may recognize if you have an interest in German films from an era long gone. You can find the entire cast list here on IMDb. All in all, all the heartbreak and emotion inside this film did not really manage to get to me and touch me in a way I hoped it would. This is one of the truly early German films dealing with the years of Nazi Germany and the Holocaust, but it is far from the best and does not really deserve any of the praise or accolades it has been getting. I give it a thumbs-down. Not recommended.