Directed by Margarethe von Trotta • 1986 • West Germany
Starring Barbara Sukowa, Daniel Olbrychski, Otto Sander

ROSA LUXEMBURG is Margarethe von Trotta’s remarkable look at one of the most fascinating figures in modern European political history. Having fought for women’s rights in early-twentieth-century Poland and Germany, the Marxist revolutionary Luxemburg formed the famous Spartacist League, later the Communist Party of Germany, before being assassinated at age forty-seven. Built around an extraordinary performance from Barbara Sukowa (winner of the best actress award at Cannes), this multilayered portrait traces Luxemburg’s political and moral development from journalist and author to dissenter from the party line and imprisoned pacifist, bringing her character alive on-screen with depth and complexity.