Charlotte

In 1935 Berlin, members of the Nazi party interrupt an opera attended by Jewish audience members, signaling the rising threat to Charlotte's family. The moment crystallizes the danger of the regime and compels Charlotte to pay closer attention to the world around her. She sketches and paints a vivid scene of the conductor ordering the Nazis to depart, marking an early expression of her art.

As political tensions mount, Charlotte's maternal grandparents decide to depart for Rome, seeking safety abroad. Her father Albert and Paula want to remain in Germany, creating a rift within the family. The conflicting wishes set in motion a split that shapes Charlotte's future movements.

Charlotte is accepted into the Academy of Fine Arts, marking a formal entry into the art world. She begins a rigorous training that sharpens her expressionist style, even as the regime's censorship looms. The experience fortifies her resolve to express life through painting.

While visiting her grandparents in Rome, Charlotte befriends Ottilie Moore, an American patron who becomes a mentor. In the Sistine Chapel, Ottilie offers shelter and later a path to refuge at the Côte d'Azur. The encounter provides a lifeline that will influence Charlotte's path for years to come.

Ottilie Moore invites Charlotte and her family to take refuge at the Côte d'Azur, providing a hopeful escape from Germany. The invitation shifts the family's geography toward the south of France. It marks a crucial step toward safety and continued artistic development.

In Wannsee, Charlotte spends a day with Alfred Wolfsohn, Paula's vocal teacher, who comforts her after an early expulsion. He asks her to illustrate his wartime memoirs, foreshadowing a collaboration between artist and writer. The encounter ends with the painful knowledge that Alfred has a fiancée.

Kristallnacht erupts, and Charlotte's paintings are burned while Jewish residents are rounded up. The atrocity deepens the sense of danger surrounding the Salomon family. The violence becomes a pivotal moment that accelerates their plans to relocate.

Albert is sent to Sachsenhausen concentration camp and returns to the family after two months. The stay underscores the regime's indiscriminate terror and its impact on daily life. The experience presses the family to consider new routes for safety.

Albert and Paula obtain an exit visa for Charlotte by claiming that her grandparents are ill, allowing Charlotte to go live in France with Ottilie and her grandparents. The move marks a crucial relocation away from Germany and into exile. It also sets the stage for Charlotte's continued artistic development abroad.

In France, Charlotte falls in love with Alexander Nagler, the groundskeeper, complicating the family’s escape plans. Her grandfather relocates the trio to Nice, establishing a base on the French Riviera. The move intensifies the tension between love, family duty, and survival.

Charlotte's grandmother commits suicide, and her grandfather reveals that Charlotte's mother and aunt killed themselves. The revelations deepen her emotional burden and intensify her drive to translate memory into art. The family history becomes the fuel for her Life? Or Theatre? project.

Charlotte begins her Life? Or Theatre? painting project, aiming to translate her family saga into visual memory. She returns to Ottilie's home and discusses the project with Alexander, seeking support for the work. The project becomes a lifeline amid the encroaching war.

Six weeks after beginning the project, Ottilie takes the young refugees to America, offering Charlotte and Alexander a chance to join. Charlotte declines, as her visa depends on staying with her increasingly abusive grandfather. The plan to preserve the life story is derailed by legal and familial constraints.

Back in Nice, Charlotte poisons her abusive grandfather by putting Veronal in his dinner, hoping to gain freedom. She discovers she is pregnant by Alexander, who reveals his Jewish identity to marry her. The couple steels themselves for the danger still ahead.

Charlotte entrusts her Life? Or Theatre? paintings to Dr. Moridis for safekeeping, then she and Alexander are taken away by the Nazis. The epilogue reveals that both were killed in Auschwitz, and the paintings are interwoven with archival footage of the Salomon family and Ottilie.