In Aimee & Jaguar, dramatic appeal is heightened by the film’s artistry. The story surrounds the romantic relationship between two women, Lilly Wust (Aimee), a married mother of four, and Felice Schragenheim (Jaguar), a young Jewish woman hiding from the Gestapo in Berlin. The award-winning, critically acclaimed German film, starring Maria Schrader (Felice) and Juliane Kohler (Lilly), is based on the book, Aimee & Jaguar: A Love Story Berlin 1943 by journalist Erica Fischer.
Sound and Light in Aimee & Jaguar
Sporadic explosions and air raid sirens interrupt happy scenes to remind us that the tranquility and festivities are only transitory illusions. Radios frequently announce news of the country’s war efforts, for example in the background of the orgy scene and during Lilly’s quiet time alone after her confession to her Nazi husband, Gunther. The viewer, like Felice and Lilly, is not allowed to forget the impending danger for very long. In addition, party music underscores the scenes of merriment amidst the chaos and destruction.
The loud music and brightly lit scenes also contrast with the quiet, shadowy scenes of introspection and communication. The constant juxtaposition of light and dark, and loud and quiet, symbolizing that tall, dark, Jewish Felice and short, light, Christian Lilly must live in different worlds. Several scenes show the stylus being lowered to the phonograph record as the music begins. In Felice’s dream, piano music accompanies a scene of a piano being burned in the street. Her happy times (as represented by the piano and its music) will soon come to an end as her dream warns.
The use of table lamps rather than overhead lighting fits with the time period of the film. However, Farberbock also takes advantage of light to stir our emotions: Felice and Lilly discuss their most private feelings in the shadows; and the shadows from the window blinds of the Nazi office project ominous bars across the room as the men look over a photograph of Felice shortly before her arrest, a foreshadowing that the bird will soon be caged.
Motion in Aimee & Jaguar
The frequent use of quick camera pans during happy, party scenes help blur fact and fiction (from us and the characters), implying an out-of-control feeling. How can we focus on this happiness and gaiety when millions of people are being tortured and killed? Is it appropriate to narrow our focus to two women when so many others are suffering? The world is wild, dangerous, changing, and out-of-control like the jerky camera action used in much of the film.
Farberbock makes liberal use of intercuts, juxtaposing scenes of a theater interior with scenes of fire and explosions, and by exposing Felice’s love and desire as she writes love poems with the loveless sexual union of Gunther and Lilly. Other similar instances involve quick cuts from lush interior parties to exterior scenes of rubble and decay. These quick cuts depict contrasts that help explain important elements of the story.
In addition, the director uses recurring images of photos, letters, memories and moments to establish the fleeting, yet intense nature of the women’s relationship. They shared moments in time, captured by a camera’s flash, a haunting melody, or a hastily scribbled poem.
- Aimee & Jaguar
- Director: Max Farberbock
- Rating: Unrated
- Run Time: 125 minutes
- German with English subtitles
To learn more about foreign films, read The Lives of Others. For more information about gay-themed films, read Movie Review of Pageant.
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