The film analyzes and important subject: the clash between the state, media and the private person. Katharina is trapped in the middle, unable to escape the influence of the media around her and feeling she receives no protection from the state. Katharina is a quiet and normal girl in the beginning of the film. She was once a married woman but then moved to another city to have a better life. She was the sole provider who took care of her dying mother and of her imprisoned brother. These responsibilities meant Katharina was no longer involved with any men, something she admitted to Ludwig in the beginning of the film.
Ludwig is her complete opposite: alluring, dangerous and sensual. He is a man on the run who uses people to avoid being caught. Ludwig is also popular with other women because of the danger he represents. Still, when Katharina describes him, he is portrayed as a gentle lover, someone who really cared about her.
Katharina's life changes drastically after the night she spent with Ludwig. Without knowing they were watched and without knowing Ludwig was a wanted man, Katharina spent a night with him at her apartment. The next morning, Katharina's apartment was raided by the police who, in all senses, destroyed the apartment in which Katharina lived. The inspects is angered when Katharina refuses to cooperate and this marks the beginning of her troubles.
Katharina is interrogated by the inspector and his team who are less than kind to her. She is abused both mentally and physically, accused of being a whore and of being an enemy to the state. Katharina is not allowed to express her point of view and the viewer is left with the idea that the police cannot accept the possibility when it came to an alternative story. Because of this, they also do everything they can to make sure the evidence they find will match the story they tried to present.
The way in which Katharina's life in affected by the police is nothing when compared to the way in which the media destroyed her life. One reporter in particular gained access to people close to Katharina and interviewed them in such a way they presented Katharina in an extremely negative and accusatory light. Still, the reporters and those from the newspaper saw nothing wrong in what they were doing and continued to destroy Katharina's life.
Because of the media coverage, Katharina was left exposed to the public who then started attacking her directly. Katharina was no longer safe in her own home since her address become public. From that point on, countless rude and obscene letters and pictures poured in every day, making Katharina fall deeper and deeper in despair. Still, she manages to maintain a sense of normality and to pretend nothing happened by continuing to go to work and to live her life as normal as possible.
Katharina feels as if there is no going back for her when her mother dies on the same day as Ludwig is captured. After these two characters disappear, Katharina is left alone, having to deal with the possibility of a long prison sentence. What is more, the press continues to attack her constantly, leaving her with no moment to breath. Katharina becomes once more free when she kills the man who ruined her life.Even though she knew she was now going to spend the rest of her life in prison, Katharina is accepting of her fate. In a way, being locked away in a prison, with no possibility of ever being able to read what the newspapers write about her is a happy ending for the character who had her life ruined in the span of just one month by a group of people who were not interested in the truth unless it fit their version of the truth.
