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Amos Lasen wrote on 03/03/2010:

“Broken Glass”

Abuse

Amos Lassen

Valentina is a beautiful artist who lives in Berlin and suffers from a past of sexual and physical abuse. Her mother caught her in bed with her female lover and forces her to return to a “normal” lifestyle. Her mother is very wealthy and lets Val know that if she does not do this she will be cut off with no money and no emotional support. Having almost no choice Val concedes to her mother’s wishes and pursues a heterosexual lifestyle to appease her mother. The surprise comes when she finds her boyfriend in bed with another man and Val realizes that she is unable to cope with her life the way it is and her repressed male alter-ego takes over her life.
Alexandre, Val’s grandfather. Made seven bottles of wine, one to celebrate each milestone in his granddaughter’s life and when the film opens we see Valentina treasuring the bottle that is labeled “First Love”. She is soon reunited with her best friend from childhood who she has not seen in 20 years, Alessandra, and the two make love. This is when her mother discovered her and threatened her. When Valentina sees Valentin in her own reflection, she understands that her male alter-ego has indeed come to the fore. She meets Steiny, a guy with whom she falls in love and they move to Berlin together. When Steiny opens another one of the bottles of wine, “First Marriage”, he proposes to her but she catches him making love to another man. Her reaction is quite violent and she ends her relationship with him and begins to face that she has a dichotomy within herself and she tries to reconcile the relationship with Steiny and opens the bottled marked “First Betrayal”. She finds that Steiny indeed wants to stay with her but it is not long before a former lover seduces him. Val decides that the way to keep him is to have a child and she seduces Steiny with yet another bottle, “First Born’. However all is not good.
Steiny has contracted HIV from his lover and he begins to drink and becomes depressed and both Steiny and Valentina reach a point of self destruction but they are saved by yet another bottle, “First Miracle”. When Val realizes that Alessandra truly loves her she is set free by “The Seventh Bottle” and she finds the strength to face her mother who has been the obstacle in her life.
Hopefully this summary does not spoil the film for you but it is not the plot that makes this so special. The underlying idea of fighting for what one believes is the focus but it is the brilliant acting and direction here that make this a movie worth seeing.