"World-wide (English title) (festival title) Return to Life" (imdb.com)
Five segments comprise this film: (1) a woman is released from a concentration camp, and is in a state of catatonic apathy; her family members are concerned about getting her signature on an inheritance paper; (2) a barman working on a hotel has to attend to requests from guests who happen to be female army personnel; (3) a curmudgeonly ex-soldier shelters a fugitive German, unaware that he is a former torturer; (4) upon his return, a former prisoner of war finds that his girl is gone with another man and his apartment is occupied by former resistance members; (5) a returning soldier must face the rejection of his fellow villagers towards his new German wife.
I didn't really find these postwar stories very satisfactory, save one (number 4). That exception is the only story which deals exclusively with issues firmly rooted in real situations faced by people returning from World War II. The others derive their mild appeal from their dramatic constructions and the ability of the actors and the directors; they are part of the myth-building around that war, but not, I assume, of the widely experienced situations which it brought about.
Rating: 40
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