IMDb reviews From IMDb
★ 6 / 10
At the very start of this documentary, we
CinemaSerf
At the very start of this documentary, we are shown a photograph of a woman staring into the camera. It's fairly unlikely she knew it was pointing at the group…
At the very start of this documentary, we are shown a photograph of a woman staring into the camera. It's fairly unlikely she knew it was pointing at the group in which she was standing, but it was taken as the Ravensbrück concentration camp was being liberated by the Swiss Red Cross in 1945. She is quickly identified as Nadine Hwang and now director Magnus Gertten tries to piece together her story. For that, he is fortunate. She kept a series of diaries and when it falls to her grand-daughter to finally read them - with quite a degree of emotion-laden trepidation - we discover that before the war she was in a loving relationship with Nelly Mousset Vos. With the aid of photographs and the sometimes quite harrowing narration from her text, we trace the lives of these two women both before and after the horrors of the Nazi invasion. Not wishing, in any way, to trivialise this - but as a documentary it's all a bit lightweight. The story itself is one that's truly ghastly, empowering, emotional and sometimes quite shocking, but factually there is just way too much missing, and what we do have to go on and/or know is squeezed just once too often. It might actually have made for a better source as a drama, allowing some of the understandable gaps to be filled in, albeit speculatively, and leaving less scope for us to have to make our own guesses about their difficulties not just with the SS but with a society as yet unfamiliar with their candid and loving lesbianism. Much of the heavy lifting comes from the soundtrack - it turns out Nelly was quite a good singer, too - but somehow it's really only the shell of a poignant story that falls disappointingly short. It is worth watching, and the plentiful photographs and some archive footage add a little richness, but it doesn't quite deliver.
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★ 6 / 10
"Give yourself permission to live"
evening1
Ravensbrück concentration camp inmate Nelly sings an aria from "Madame Butterfly," attracting the attention, and a hug and kisses, from fellow political…
Ravensbrück concentration camp inmate Nelly sings an aria from "Madame Butterfly," attracting the attention, and a hug and kisses, from fellow political prisoner Nadine. From that day on, their bond helps to keep them alive.
This beautiful-to-watch, thought-provoking documentary unfolds impressionistically, as we piece together a love story through the perspective of Nelly's granddaughter, a farmer's wife who inherited yellowed diary pages, faded photos, and strips of 8mm film.
"How they managed to have a relationship like that at someplace as terrifying as a concentration camp, I just don't know," Anne muses. "The chances that both of them would survive were incredibly slim."
Although the movie doesn't explain how it happens, the lovers reunite after the war, establishing a peaceful life in Caracas, Venezuela, where Nadine works at a bank and Nelly at the French embassy.
Nelly was separated from her husband, and responsible for two young daughters, when the polizei arrested her at the Moliere statue in Paris. The girls were taken in by friends until liberation, and we're told that one came to dislike Nadine. (The movie is totally opaque on how Nelly eventually opts for life with Nadine rather than her kids.)
We learn here that Nelly and Nadine kept separate bedrooms, called themselves cousins, and held salon-type gatherings in their well-appointed apartment. "Nadine loved to film," we're told, and we see snippets of home movies spotlighting the glamorous Nelly.
It's unclear whether Nelly penned her poetic writings -- " snow like powdered sugar" -- at the camps themselves, or authored them -- "One day, if I return to my life..." after the war. Whatever the circumstances, her impressions can sustain us all:
"How to find the courage to survive?"
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★ 8 / 10
Remarkable love story with high historical value
paul-allaer
As "Nelly & Nadine" (2022 release from Sweden; 92 min.) opens, it is "April 28, 1945" and a large contingent of women reach Malmo, Sweden, including Nadine…
As "Nelly & Nadine" (2022 release from Sweden; 92 min.) opens, it is "April 28, 1945" and a large contingent of women reach Malmo, Sweden, including Nadine Wang. The event was recorded by multiple sources, and we get some amazing footage. The voice-over wonders what Nadine was thinking about "and I found the answer in northern France". We are introduced to Sylvie, the granddaughter of Nelly, and keeper of tons of archive materials which she has never reviewed closely... until now. At this point we are 10 minutes into the documentary.
Couple of comments: this is the latest from Swedish producer-director magnus Gertten ("Every Face Has a Name"). Here he carefully reconstructs the absolutely remarkable story of two women who meet in a concentration camp, get split up, and what came thereafter. The movie uses Sylvie's reading of numerous documents and watching ample 8mm footage to built the story, layer upon layer. The movie's pace is deliberately quite slow, so that we can register what we are hearing and watching. There is a fantastic classical score to accentuate it all.
"Nelly & Nadine" was released in late 2022, presumably so as to qualify for the Oscar nominations, which it failed to garner. Don't let that fool you. This documentary id currently rated 94% Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, and for good reason. I stumbled onto this film last night on Amazon Prime. So glad I found this. Not only is the story remarkable, but it contains a ton of footage that has high historical value as well. If you are in the mood for a moving love story of a different kind, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.
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