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Labyrinth of Lies | 2015 | R | - 6.5.2
Set in Frankfurt Germany in 1958, it relates how a young attorney (Alexander Fehling) peeled away the shroud of secrecy hiding Nazi World War II crimes to reveal the truth about his compatriots. Also with André Szymanski, Friederike Becht, Johannes Krisch, Johann von Bülow, Robert Hunger-Bühler, Hansi Jochmann, Lukas Miko, Gert Voss and Tim Williams. Directed by Giulio Ricciarelli. In German with English subtitles. [2:04]
SEX/NUDITY 6 - A man and a woman go to his apartment where she removes her dress (we see her wearing undergarments, garter belt, briefs, stockings and bra); the man removes her bra and they kiss (we see her upper chest, bare back and side), he lays on top of her in bed thrusting and they kiss and moan (we see his upper chest) and she wakes up in his bed later.
► Women wear low-cut evening gowns that reveal bare shoulders, backs and upper chests at a party. A woman wears a low-cut top that reveals cleavage.
► A woman kisses a man. A man kisses a woman. A man kisses a woman and she pulls away saying that he is drunk. A woman loosens a man's tie in a flirtatious manner and they dance holding each other closely.
► Men and women dance at a party.
VIOLENCE/GORE 5 - A man describes arriving in Auschwitz with his wife and two young daughters: he says that it was cold and they were hungry and a doctor approached the man's daughters asking if they were twins, and then took the children away; the father cringes when he relates what the doctor did to the children (he lists torture, injecting them with viruses, removing their organs with no anesthesia, and sewing them together like "Siamese twins"). We hear that a man slammed a young boy's head into a wall and then ordered someone else to clean up the mess on the wall. A man describes an entry in a file that reads, "Shot while trying to escape" and another man later explains that it was a frequent scenario in a death camp and captives would be told to run to a fence where they would be shot dead. A man describes that 100s of thousands of people were killed at Auschwitz. A man says that his wife and son were killed at Auschwitz. A man describes that he was, "Whipped until he passed out" and that he "lost his eye." A man describes that two people froze to death during the transport of prisoners to a death camp. A man says to another man, "You kicked him until he died." A man says to another man, "You shot the child." A man says of a death camp that, "God wasn't there." Two men perform a religious ceremony outside Auschwitz where a woman and two children were murdered.
► A brick with a swastika drawn on it is thrown through a living room window where men and women and children are gathered and one man with a handgun runs into the street yelling as a car speeds away.
► A man punches another man in the stomach and he falls to the ground coughing. A man yells and grabs another man by the jacket; they struggle and the first man breaks down. Two young boys fight on a playground and a teacher pulls one boy away by the ear. A man hits a boy in the head on a playground. A man yells and shoves two other men out of his apartment.
► A man tells another man, "You should be gassed." A man slams his hand on a table and yells at another man. A man yells and tells several other men that another man who was posted at Auschwitz is now teaching children at a nearby school. Two men argue. A woman appearing in court for a traffic violation argues with a lawyer who insists that she pay the full fine even though she cannot afford it. A young man says that his father has been missing since '45. A man asks several young people if they know what Auschwitz is and they have never heard of it. Army comrades sing a song about shooting down Russians.
► A man wears an eye patch over one eye and we see some scarred flesh on his eyebrow and forehead; he removes the patch on one scene and another man reacts to what is uncovered (we do not see it). When a man reaches out to light another man's cigarette we see that the first man is missing the majority of two of his fingers and the man receiving the light is startled. We see a number tattooed on a man's forearm. We hear that a man had a heart attack and we see him in the hospital. We hear that a man died of heart failure. We read that a man died in a swimming accident. We read that 17 of the people tried for crimes committed at Auschwitz were found guilty.
► A man has a nightmare that he walked through a medical lab where there are jars with organs and other things floating in liquid and a doctor stands near a table; the man wakes up with a start when he sees the doctor's name tag and it reads "Mengele."
► A man is shown lying on the floor after drinking heavily and two men help him to get home and put him to bed. A man says that he feels like he will puke.
LANGUAGE 2 - 1 scatological term, 1 mild obscenity, name-calling (hot head, Nazi, communist, disgrace, dirty coward, traitor, scum, crazy, bastard, bum), exclamations (shut your mouth).
SUBSTANCE USE - People drink alcohol and smoke cigarettes at a party, a man drinks and smokes in several scenes, a man is shown in a stupor and lies sleeping on a floor after a party, two men drink shots of alcohol, we see three glasses of alcohol poured and on a table (no one drinks from them), people drink and smoke at a formal party, men drink and smoke in a home, people drink and smoke at a celebration, two men drink and fall on the ground drunk, a man drinks and smokes on a street and stumbles toward people trying to pass by, and three men on a small boat smoke cigarettes and drink champagne. Three male teachers smoke cigarettes on a playground, a man reaches out with a lighter to help another man light his cigarette, two men smoke cigarettes in a meeting, and a man smokes in a kitchen.
DISCUSSION TOPICS - Germany, Nazi practices, the Holocaust, propaganda, murder, torture, experimentation, cover-ups, Adolf Hitler, Josef Mengele, Hiroshima, human nature, evil, denial, truth, shame.
MESSAGE - People may prefer cover up atrocities, but they should be exposed, no matter how horrible.
CAVEATS
Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.
We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.
Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.
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