Review by mpadjasek

I enjoyed watching "The Last Night". Even if you feel that this movie is old-fashioned today, I think it was interesting for its time (1949). The plot takes place towards the end of the Second World War, during the retreat of the German troops to Normandy. A French woman, Renee (Sybille Schmitz), who is a member of the Resistance, blows up a dam to hinder the Germans. She is arrested, sentenced to death for sabotage, and is to be shot that same night. She starts talking to a young German officer, Harald (Karl John), who belongs to a unit that is fighting a losing battle and who therefore also sees his imminent death. The two people grow closer and closer that night. What I liked about this film was the lively, although at times not very realistic, plot and the good-for-its-time acting. This is one of those war films that shows that there is also a human being behind the enemy uniform. Moreover, in "The Last Night", in the clash with the uniform and the old-fashioned sense of honor and patriotism, it is the man, his individual sense of morality, and his reason who win.