This 1981 film, directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, is a West German production, but several of the actors are speaking other languages and then are dubbed into German, which may be distracting for some viewers.
The theme song, Lili Marleen, is mentioned in several other films and historical accounts of WWII. In this film, a German singer falls in love with a Jewish composer, who is helping others escape before the war. With her being German, several in his family are not certain of her loyalties.
The male lead, played by Giancarlo Giannini, an Italian. He’s well known far beyond the German film circle. He’s even been in a couple recent James Bond films!
Gottfried John plays a strong supporting character. He’s also been in a James Bond film – Golden Eye. Beyond that, we may know him from Asterix und Obelix gegen Caesar, Bin ich schön?, and Rubinrot (which was, sadly, his last film).
Fassbinder often dealt with the question of German identity, especially in its transition between WWII into the post-war era.
This film is rated R in the U.S. due to nudity, which takes place in the first scenes. There is also a sex scene just over an hour into the film. There is more nudity during a search nearly an hour and a half in.