Forbidden (1984 film)
Forbidden is a 1984 drama film directed by Anthony Page and starring Jacqueline Bisset, Jürgen Prochnow and Irene Worth. The plot is loosely based on a true story originally told in the non-fiction book The Last Jews in Berlin by Leonard Gross about a countess who hides her Jewish boyfriend in her apartment in World War II. It was a co-production between Britain, West Germany and the United States. It was broadcast on television in America, but released in cinemas in other countries.
Plot
German countess Nina von Hadler (Bisset) is a student in veterinary medicine in Berlin, Germany on the eve of World War II. Ostracized by her family due to her liberal views and opposition to the Nazi government, she lives alone, independent and strong-willed. The film opens with Nina studying at the library the day Germany invades Poland. She is angered and tells a classmate she knows the reasons Hitler gave for the invasion (to allegedly rescue ethnic Germans) are a pack of lies.
One day while on errands Nina witnesses Brownshirts attacking a vendor. She also sees a man attempting to help the vendor. She confronts them and demands to know why he is being attacked. They say they beat him because he sells to Jews. She tells him to leave the man alone or she will report them to her brother-in-law, a high-ranking Nazi official. Later, while attending an informal party hosted by her friend, she recognises the man who came to the assistance of the vendor. Her friend, Erica, tells her that his name is Fritz Friedlander and he is a writer. She is immediately attracted to him, but Erica warns Nina that it would be illegal to date him under the Nuremberg Laws because he is Jewish. The headstrong Nina ignores this advice, however, and begins a relationship with him.
