James Hitchcock Elisabeth "Lilly" West, a housewife in 1940s Berlin, seemed like the perfect example of Aryan German womanhood. Beautiful, blonde and blue-eyed, she was married to an officer in the German army and, as the mother of four young sons, held the Bronze Cross of the German Mother, an order created by Hitler to honour those women who provided the Fatherland with large numbers of children. Beneath the surface, however, things were not all they seemed. Lilly's husband Guenther was frequently unfaithful to her and she was unhappy in their marriage. She herself sought consolation in affairs with other men, but happiness continued to elude her until she began a lesbian relationship with a friend named Felice Schragenheim. ("Aimée" was Felice's pet name for Lilly and "Jaguar" Lilly's for Felice).Felice, who worked as a journalist on a Nazi newspaper, may also have seemed like the ideal German woman, but again she was not everything she seemed. She was, in fact, Jewish and was concealing her identity under a false name. While posing as a loyal Nazi, she was working for the anti-Nazi German Resistance. Following the failure of the attempted anti-Nazi coup on 20th July 1944, Felice was arrested and taken to Theresienstadt concentration camp, where she died. Rather surprisingly, Lilly was not punished; she was evidently able to persuade the authorities that she was not aware of either Felice's Jewish background or her treasonable activities. The Nazi Party strongly disapproved of lesbianism, but unlike male homosexuality it was never made a specific criminal offence, so Lilly could not be prosecuted solely on the basis of her sexual relationship with Felice.This story was told in a best-selling non-fiction book by the German writer Erica Fischer, later translated into English. I read Fischer's book a few years ago, and found it a very moving one, but somehow Max Färberböck's film version never really comes to life in the same way. I found it cold and uninvolving, an impression not helped by a claustrophobic tone and a dark, sombre visual look. None of the acting performances really stood out. The story of Aimee and Jaguar may have ended tragically, but it was also the story of two people in love, and the film should have been paid as much attention to celebrating that love as to lamenting their tragedy. I felt that Aimee and Jaguar deserved a better film than this. 4/10

kino1969 I read the biography FIRST, which, in itself, was decent (but not great). I was hoping that, in a 2+ hour movie, most of what was in the Erica Fischer's book would be in the movie, but there was quite a bit missing (especially the story of Lily and Felice AFTER Felice is taken to Theresienstadt, which took up the 2nd half of that book). I will give the makers of the movie the benefit of the doubt that they were probably working on a small budget and there may have been restrictions with filming in certain places at the time.------ The first half of the movie seems to be all over the place, with no real chronological series of events (the book is chronological, but wavers between the Nazi threat and the love between 2 women). After viewing the movie, and having read the book FIRST, I have come to the conclusion that the first part of the movie was erroneously edited backwards in chronological order (especially how they first met until they became lovers). However, there are 3 inexcusable problems with the movie: 1) It doesn't quite know how it wants to portray Felicity, whether as part of the communist underground (which is hardly touched upon with any accuracy).- I'm sure viewers wonder "who and what is Fritz or those other 3 women?"-, whether it wants to be about the taboo subject of lesbianism in Germany at the time, or if it wants to go off on Felicity's Jewish background (which is her downfall, although the loose communism subplot leads up to her downfall, but quickly changes to her Jewish background). 2) The character of Gunther is made to be a mean SOB, but Lily is made to be a subordinate little German housewife whose strength and dignity only ignites when she is mad at Felicity (who in the book is described as usually wearing long pants instead of skirts, and she wears skirts 95% of the time in the movie!). Yes, Gunther was a SOB, but Lily (as she comes across in the book) is just as bad (even though Ms. Fischer attempts to give her a victim-like persona with her writing). They were in a loveless marriage and Gunther had a mistress, but to have Gunther be the total baddie is unfair, seeing that Lily also committed adultery, and both knew about each others' lovers and preferences. Also, Lily, as it written in the book (intentional or not) never really comes across a great mother, but I doubt that after the lesbian "orgy" in a main scene in the movie that the women would be sleeping in the children's bedroom! 3) The Lily versus Inge story. It flickers 2x in the movie (at the very beginning and 1/2 way through the movie), but culminates at the end (in the "present" when they meet again). I didn't read a sub story in the book to this huge rift between them over Felice, neither did I recognize that they vied over her endlessly. I believe the makers took liberty with the book to give another level to the many antagonistic atmospheres throughout the movie. It's an unnecessary story. Also, it is not altogether clear whose story this is, whether it is Lily's or Ilse's or someone else's.----- Overall, as a person who truly enjoys movies set in Nazi Germany dealing with the many groups that were censured and ultimately murdered (Jews, gays, communists and other political "criminals," & even Russians), I am rather troubled by the overly simplistic way that several of these groups are (or maybe how they are "not") portrayed. I know it's a love story about forbidden love, but, in the end, it feels (to me) like a travesty in the memory of Felicity (and Lily, to a point) that such glaring omissions and inaccuracies are in the movie.----- The book, although problematic in its writing, is a much better source on the subject of Lily, Felice, and all of the other people that makes this story interesting. Overall, I would like to see a better movie made (and not by a TV director, which is always a problem to me). It is a great subject, with only "Bent" being the other well known movie (off the top of my head) about homosexuality and Nazi persecution.----- I do give a nod to the director for the pond scene near the end and the capture the same day of Felicity, which is not only noted in the book, but the re-creation is very well done. The actual photographs that were taken on the camera timer are in the book and on the cover of the book.-----Too much melodrama, and not enough respect for a true story or for history. Unfortunately, few movies have been made on the subject of homosexuality and Nazi victims.-----E.

smoothhoney1265 There does exist an expression in the German language that describes this movie perfectly. It's "großes Kino". Literally translated it means "big cinema" and you use it for movies that are really grand: Grand in their structure, grand in emotion and grand in class. If any movie deserves this title then it's this one.The Plot: Berlin during WWII. We get an insight in the daily life of two complete different women who don't know each other. Lilly is young, married with four kids and because of this can afford a quite pleasant life (as Hitler was fond of mothers with many kids, they got more of everything than other families: more money, more food etc.). So while her husband is somewhere out there fighting the enemy, Lilly occasionally has affairs and while she has her fun with the men, a nanny is taking care of the kids. The other woman, also being quite young, is Felice. Felice is Jewish, works as a journalist for a newspaper and unlike Lilly has to daily cope with the fear of being discovered and transported to a KZ. As if it all were not enough, Felice is lesbian and enjoys life as much as possible in the circle of her (mostly lesbian) friends. Now, one day, Felice by chance sees Lilly in a theatre and almost instantly falls for her. Surprisingly enough Lilly loves her back and they begin an irresistible and passionate affair, which at the time and circumstances back there was like dancing on a volcano… Of course the film deals with WWII and the holocaust here but the best thing about it is that it's only done on the side. The plot concentrates on the two women, the two different worlds they live in and their feelings towards each other. It's all so intensive and it's not all about two suffering girls who lived in a horrible time and were not allowed to love each other, it's about two strong women with a lust for life who tried not to care too much about the Nazi regime, but to concentrate on seizing the day. After watching it you don't only feel for them, you admire them for having been so strong and courageous. But most of all you get to appreciate love and life again.A truly great film about a great love in times where this love seemed to be impossible. Based on true events.

mary-leezer What sets this apart from your typical Jew/Nazi movie was that it was a love affair between a wife of a Nazi hero and a Jewish girl who does not wear a star and is an assistant to the newpaper editor of Berlins biggest paper.The courage and nerve these young kids had is breathtaking and the disaster that they befell at the hands of the Nazis devastated me more than most typical Nazi movies. At some point I had a revelation. I understood that there was no imbalance of power. I realized that the Nazis were not all powerful as I had presumed. All around them were people of the same, if not more strength, opposing them. The resistance was as cunning and determined as the Nazis - it was inevitable that good would win. There is a line in the movie where one girl is telling another girl who is reprimanding her for something, "You did not create the world - God did." Wonderful way to say - you can't judge me.The love making scene is hard to watch. Don't get me wrong - I am not prejudice - it is hard to watch because the Lilly is so scared and beaten (psychologically, physically) by Nazi men and when the Jewish girl (Felice) kneels at Lilly's feet and just holds her ankles and rests her cheek on the Lilly's calves you are in as much pain as the Lilly. The actress who plays Lilly just breaks your heart because her whole body is wracked in these hysterical shivers and no words. It is the old saying put before you in the form of these two women - one Nazi, one Jewish - that `the master becomes the slave' And of course it symbolized the whole Nazi situation. It is what Shakespear tried to to teach us in MacBeth - the blood was so much more powerful than the knife.