The Berlin Affair

Berlin, Nazi Germany, 1938 Louise von Hollendorf (Gudrun Landgrebe) pays a visit to her former literature professor (William Burger), whom she has not seen for several years, to tell him about her "passions" involving herself, her husband, and a young Japanese woman. The rest of the film is told in flashback with occasional voice-over and in-person narration by Louise to the Professor. Some months earlier, Louise is married to Heinz von Hollendorf (Kevin McNally), a German senior diplomat at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. His long work hours make her feel lonely, so she decides to pass the time by taking drawing lessons at the institute of Fine Arts. At the institute, Louise meets a classmate named Mitsuko Matsugae (Mio Takaki), the young and alluring daughter of the Japanese ambassador. Captivated by Mitsuko's beauty, Louise asks her to model for her sketching practice. Rumors soon spreads at the institute that the two women are romantically engaged. Rather than driving them apart, the rumors bring the two women closer together and soon they begin a passionate affair. In the present, Louise confides to the Professor, "One moment we were laughing, the next, we were making love". Over the next several weeks, Louise and Mitsuko have their romantic sexual encounters first at Louise's house and later at Mitsuko's Japanese-style house on the Japanese embassy grounds. After spending more and more time together, Louise falls in love with Mitsuko. Heinz eventually grows suspicious of the women's relationship. Heinz becomes not only jealous but also worried that his wife's indiscretions might harm his political ambitions. Heinz confronts Louise about her lesbian tryst with Mitsuko, but she denies his allegation even in the face of clear evidence. One day, Louise discovers that Mitsuko is also having an affair with Joseph Benno (Andrea Prodan), their half-Italian drawing instructor. Louise learns about Mitsuko and Benno's plan to marry and that the two have spread the lesbian rumors to distract the public from their own socially unacceptable, mixed-race relationship. Disgusted and disillusioned, Louise breaks away from Mitsuko and returns to her husband, confessing the full extent of what has happened. Heinz is hurt, but understands and forgives Louise. Meanwhile, the Nazi regime starts to eliminate dissidents under the cloak of a morality campaign. Wolf von Hollendorf (Hanns Zischler), Heinz's cousin and a high-ranking Gestapo officer, forces Louise and Heinz to participate in a plot, which uncovers General Werner von Heiden's (Massimo Girotti) homosexuality. Louise and Heinz are forced to set a trap for von Heiden at their house by inviting the older General and his lover, a young handsome pianist, during a social event. At the visit, Wolf exposes von Heiden's relationship, ruining the general's career and forcing him to flee Berlin and Germany itself for parts unknown. One month later, Mitsuko reappears in Louise's life, faking being ill and pregnant. Louise does not believe Mitsuko, nevertheless they rekindle their affair with even greater intensity, having lesbian sex on a daily basis in Louise and Heinz's own house. Joseph Benno, who still has a relationship with Mitsuko, promises Louise that he will not interfere with Louise's and Mitsuko's relationship if Louise helps them in getting married. Louise reluctantly agrees. Benno then uses their written agreement to blackmail Heinz who, with Wolf's help, turns against him and deports Benno back to Italy. Heinz is now determined more then ever to separate his wife from her Japanese female lover. The two women plan to scare Heinz to accept their relationship by faking an attempted suicide. The plan takes an unexpected turn when Mitsuko seduces Heinz in a ménage à trois (threesome). Caught in a love triangle, Louise, Mitsuko and Heinz grow more and more jealous of each other. Mitsuko, jealous and possessive, dominates both Louise and Heinz. At a dinner, Mitsuko drugs the von Hollendorfs with sleeping pills to prevent them from having sex. Mitsuko uses the ruse to turn Heinz and Louise on each other. By now, their self-destructive relationship becomes publicly known to the Nazi regime as the exiled Benno publishes his account abroad about Louise and Mitsuko's romantic affair. To avoid the scandal, Heinz is asked to resign from his post and leave Berlin. Wolf temporarily withdraws their passports to prevent them from leaving the country pending an investigation. Louise, Heinz and Mitsuko hide out in a seedy hotel room from the authorities to debate their fates. However, rather than leave each other (and at Mitsuko's insistence), all three of them drink poison in a Japanese ceremonial rite of suicide and lay down on the bed holding onto one another. Some time later, upon awakening and to her bewilderment, Louise discovers that both Heinz and Mitsuko are dead, revealing that she was given a sedative instead of poison, and effectively being left behind and betrayed by both her lovers. Back in the present day, Louise finishes her story about what happened and how her husband and her Japanese lover are now dead. At first, Louise thought that by being left behind she was betrayed by both her lovers. But a minute later, Louise thinks that maybe Mitsuko did so out of loyalty, to spare Louise's life. The Professor gives Louise some papers that he hides in a candy box and urges her to publish his latest story as well as to tell her own romantic triangle story someday when she is finished dealing with her grief. Minutes later, the Professor is arrested by the Gestapo and taken away. The final shot shows Louise, now all alone, standing in the Professor's office and debating her own future.