Please don't spend money on this.

It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Who needs subtitles. Just watch it in raw German. Best exemplifies Berlin as a place for elitist bi sexuals and Weimar bohemian types that circulated in the 1920's - 1930's. We are spared spartan Liebensraum volker angry butch women with their Teutonic hairy underarms, since the director skilfully selected only what men like to see: beautiful feminine women getting it on with each other. Of of course, there is a human element to all this, with the Fascist's looming in the background and all that. Too bad the story line could not wane a few more years of script, say, until the Russians invaded the city. Or, perhaps, they could have escaped to Nagasaki in a German U boat with the Japanese Ambassador. (Material for a sequel?) I got such a kick out of this film I would rate it five stars (like Eisenhower's rank) and keep it in my personal collection along with Peter Lorre's "M" and Montgomery Clift's, "The Big Lift".

Liliana Cavani is a woman of literature. Here she takes Tanizaki's Japanese classic "The Budhist Cross" and transports it to Berlin in the oppressive 30ies. Nazi paranoia is on the look out, ironically, for deviants within German society. In this case High Society. As heads begin to roll more than one personality has something to hide. A study in juxtaposition of fire and ice, truth and falseness, faith and betrayal, Berlin Affair is not an 'easy' film but yes an intriguing one. All the characters seem to move and react with authentic 'period' ease, formal but never artificial. Gudrun Landgrebe is a revelation. Aloof but sensual she evokes the kind of respect usually reserved for the great 'stars' of Hollywood's heyday. Kevin MacNally reminds us of Dirk Bogarde, Mio Takaki is in no way the stereotype of Asian beauty, making her 'powers' seem all the more credible. Andrea Prodan as the 'blackmailing' Josif Benno creates an intriguing character with only a few scenes. In short, everybody is a 'victim' in this drama, which like a Webster play leaves us with a stage strewn with corpses. Adore the Sets,Costumes and pristine photography. A definite Visconti experience from Italy's dame of discomfort, Liliana Cavani.

In 1938, in Berlin, Louise von Hollendorf (Gudrun Landgrebe) is a well married woman frequenting art classes. Her husband Heinz von Hollendorf (Kevin McNally) is a successful politician in a pre-war German and they have an excellent relationship. During the class, Louise meets Mitsuko Matsugae (Mio Takaki), an exotica and very discreet Japanese young woman, daughter of the Ambassador of Japan in Berlin. They start a friendship that is followed by a lesbian love between them. Mitsuko indeed is a very seductive and amoral bisexual woman and seduces also Heinz. This relationship ends in a tragedy. This dark and heavy romance has a wonderful photography, and a beautiful reconstitution of a pre-war period. The cast has a great performance and this movie is really very underrated, maybe because of the polemical and excellent director Liliana Cavani. She had the courage of making the magnificent 'Night Porter', which offended many persons, and since them certain cinema critics have decided to crucifixe her work. The manipulated public opinion, based on these unfair critics, sometimes is induced to 'not-like' any of her films. 'Berlin Affair' is a film not recommended for all audience. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): 'Berlin Affair'

It has long been fashionable in critical circles to bash the films of Liliana Cavani. Her films tend to show sleazy low life characters---------even when they live in palatial mansions. Her controversial NIGHT PORTER was unjustly accused of being deplorable, and insult to the intelligence of the average moviegoer, an offense to Jews and women, and generally condemned by everyone of cinematic importance. For me, she is the modern purveyor of film noir at it's darkest.THE BERLIN AFFAIR tells the story of Mitsuko, daughter of the Japanese ambassador to Germany during the Nazi era. She is publicly quiet and demure, but in private, flamboyantly bisexual and seduces the wife of a high Nazi official-------and eventually the husband himself. This leads to a rather unusual ménage a trois with each member of the triangle becoming more and more jealous of the others. Eventually, this self-destructive relationship becomes harder and harder to resist in spite of the personal dangers to the individuals and their respective families and political causes.It would be easy to dismiss this film as another sleazy sex opera from Cavani. But a great deal is going on in this film---------politically, sexually, socially, racially and artistically. There is a definite message for those willing to see it-------and it would be more fun for each viewer to find it for himself. Ignore Leonard Maltin's opinion and decide for yourself.