How Long Is “Bergblut”?

A Bavarian woman and her Tyrolean husband find their marriage threatened by intolerance and strife in this historical drama from first-time writer/director Philipp J. Palmer. It's the dawn of the 19th Century. Katharina (Inga Birkenfeld) and her husband Franz are eager to starting a family in Augsburg when a confrontation between Franz and a French soldier ends in tragedy, forcing the young couple to flee back to the Alpine village where Franz was born. But tensions are running high in Tyrol as the locals begin to resist being occupied by Bavaria and France, and Katharina soon starts to grow homesick as the locals take out their hostilities on her. Meanwhile, as local Andreas Hofer begins to stir up an independence movement, Franz and his younger brother join the rest of the farmers in striking back against their oppressors. Back home, Katharina does her best to endure with quiet dignity, eventually gaining the respect of the villagers who once despised her. Eventually Franz and the other Tyroleans return home victorious, though Katharina and the village priest recognize while they may have won this battle, a bitter war still looms ahead. When Katharina resorts to drastic measures to ensure Franz remains at home instead of marching off to fight again, the winds of fate cast a dark spell over the future of the once-happy couple.