It was written and directed by Max Färberböck and based on Erica Fischer's book chronicling the actual lives of Lilly Wust and Felice Schragenheim during that time.

Fischer's book contains photos of the many letters shared between herself and Wust, and of official correspondence after World War II in regard to Felice's whereabouts.

The movie stars Juliane Köhler as Lilly Wust and Maria Schrader as Felice Schragenheim, as well as Johanna Wokalek, Elisabeth Degen, Heike Makatsch and Detlev Buck.

The film explores the lives of Felice Schragenheim (Maria Schrader), a Jewish woman who has assumed a false name and belongs to an underground organization, and Lilly Wust (Juliane Köhler), a married mother of four who is unsatisfied with her philandering Nazi officer husband.

Instantly smitten, she takes the initiative in the love affair by sending flagrant letters to Lilly and signing her name as Jaguar, much to Ilse's dismay.

Lonely due to the absence of her husband at the front, Lilly engages in a series of affairs with other men, but is disillusioned by her callous treatment at the hands of her latest lover, another Nazi officer.

Lilly, though saddened by the tragedy that she has caused her friends and lovers, is unable to imagine how her life could have been any different, given her obsessive live-for-today-for-tomorrow-we-die mentality, common among besieged Berliners.