This new film from Italian director Silvio Soldini is a fictionalised account of real events during the Second World War when a small cohort of German women was pressed into service to taste Hitler's food.
When Rosa Sauer arrives exhausted from besieged Berlin during 1943 to stay with her in-laws, little does she realise she will be whisked to a compound near the Führer's Lion's Den in the countryside. Soon she is seated at a table with six other women and after their initial excitement at being offered rare delicacies, they discover they are actually test subjects: they must eat the dishes and then wait for an hour to ensure that the food is not poisoned. After the initial set-up, I did wonder how the film would maintain its drive for two hours.
It does so by introducing an SS officer called Ziegler who sets his stall out as a hard ass and then turns his attentions to Rosa. Thus ensues a queasy courtship which had me declaring, "Oh, No, Rosa". Her husband is declared missing on the Soviet border and she is lonely.... but still. Ziegler, surprise, surprise, is not a nice person, given to threats, intimidation. But still Rosa is attracted.
With a film like this there can be no happy ending. It's not a rom com, and these are not kind, good-hearted, likeable people. Rosa forms an uneasy alliance with another of the tasters, Elfriede, who seems to be hiding something. And indeed the last act is tense and fraught with dangers.
The story is true--there were tasters for Hitler, but this film is based on a novel and so must be judged on that rather than historical accuracy. It is well staged and acted. I could have done without the "love" story, but it does raise questions about loyalties and how far people will go in extreme circumstances.
The Tasters opens in the UK and Ireland on 13 March.
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