Lilly was straight, Felice was gay. Normally, that would be enough of a challenge for a successful love story, but as it happened Felice was Jewish and Lilly wasn’t. That might not matter now, but their affair happened in a place and time where that difference made all the difference -- the end days of Nazi Berlin during World War II. And while war may be a wonderful backdrop for fictional lovers, it can be much more of an obstacle for real ones – and Aimee & Jaguar is based on a true story.

History describes Berlin at the end of the World War II as a fevered patient who danced with wild abandon in the throes of death. The Third Reich was failing, the Allies grew ever nearer; anything went and everything did. Under these impossible circumstances a Jewish lesbian journalist and a naïve German hausfrau fell in love.

Felice Schragenheim, played by Maria Schrader, was a daredevil journalist who liked to play it dangerously close to the edge. She took a non-Jewish name and entered the “Aryan” ranks, holding a high level position with a Nazi newspaper. As a member of the underground, she raids files while her boss is out of the office. Felice runs with a savvy lesbian crowd. Proud but watchful, they are aware that if they are found out for their sexual preferences they will be at best deported and at worst sent to the gas chambers.

Lilly Wust (Juliane Köhler) comes into this scenario as the odd woman out -- the wife of a stolid soldier stationed at the German front. With four children and a Nazi officer as a lover, she hardly fits the profile of a potential girlfriend for Felice. But war makes odd bedfellows, and Felice and Lilly end up being two of the oddest and most beautiful. Lilly is at first intrigued by Felice, then seduced and finally falls desperately in love.

The two actresses in the lead roles make the film. Köhler and Schrader shared the Silver Bear for Best Actress (the German equivalent of the Oscar) at the 1999 Berlin Film Festival. The awards were well deserved. As Felice, Schrader beautifully acts out the emotional fever that infects Berlin, burning with a fire so bright that she can easily and defiantly ignore the perils around her. Physically, her clipped dark hair, ruby red lipstick and white skin present a sensual contrast of 40’s style. Smart and wary, she takes the nickname of the “Jaguar” in the relationship.

Lilly is “Aimée” (“the loved one”). Kohler is perfect as a middle-class, ditzy, somewhat disheveled and unthoughtful housewife who is loveable by virtue of her vulnerability and trusting innocence. In contrast to Felice’s fire nature, Lilly is awkward and fragile.

The relationship between the two women is dynamic. From friends to star-crossed lovers, their attraction is palpable and growing. The film explores the seductive and the then-taboo nature of their affair. While there are some graphic sex scenes, director Färberböck’s direction in this area is excellent -- showing their physical relationship with a passionate and sensitive touch but managing to avoid sensationalism.

Around the lovers the world is in constant turmoil and tension. The allies are bombing Berlin, the Gestapo is becoming ever more vindictive, and Berliners are ignoring it all and dancing as fast as they can before the inevitable end. Most scenes in Aimée &Jaguar have a risky aura -- whether they are of bombings, conversations about treason, or clandestine parties. Felice is almost discovered, then Lilly is found out by her parents. One of Felice’s lesbian friends is shot and killed .The adversity is constant and the impending doom only heightens the sense of romantic desperation about their affair.

Other elements contribute to this urgency -- from make-up, to set design and camera work – Färberböck has picked hard and often bright colors and angles, all with emphatic contrasts. The few softer visuals are carefully placed. Because of this, scenes appear even more intense than the reality they represent, contributing to the feeling of danger that permeates the film.

Character development is the only element that is lacking in Aimée & Jaguar –The novelty of the relationship between Felice and Lilly provides an initial fascination, but as the film progresses, we don’t learn enough about their internal lives – how and why they are who they are. We learn little of how they act with each other beyond their passion. In an odd way these are surface roles and it is a surface relationship, lacking the depth that more developed characters might have brought to it.

But overall the film is a rich melange of tumultous and sensual events. The story, the acting, the direction, the set design and costuming fluidly combine to give a passionate portrait of living and loving on the edge of despair in a place and time where there was no tomorrow.