YMMV / Five Branded Women

• Anvilicious: The film pulls no punches in how harsh it was to live during a war - for the people in villages that were occupied. Women who slept with Germans were usually viewed as Defiled Forever and punished for their promiscuity. The film shows that such women were really just trying to find ways to live their lives while under such harsh conditions.
  Jovanka: "What did you want me to do? Stop living? Sit in a dark corner and wither away? Drown myself in hate when the only hate I feel is not for the enemy. Not for Germans. But for war."
• Catharsis Factor: The village getting bombed and attacked by partisans is very cathartic, allowing the women to take revenge on the people who forced them out of their homes.
• Crosses the Line Twice: An Attempted Rape of Jovanka gets interrupted when the man in question pulls the scarf off her head - and bursts out laughing at the shaved head. The Mood Whiplash from what looked like a dramatic scene becomes hilarious.
• Fans Prefer the New Her: Mira looks pretty good with the shaved head, Jovanka too.
• Fridge Horror: Mira appeared to be hiding her pregnancy from the village. Would they have done something worse to her if they had known? Or would they have taken the baby off her once it had been born?
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • Daniza says she was rejected by Sgt Keller for not sleeping with him - but she got punished for it anyway. So when she does sleep with someone - she ends up being killed for it.
  • Towards the end, Jovanka asks if the world will ever change and there will ever be an end to wars. It made for a somewhat "Ray of Hope" Ending, as World War II obviously ended and the Korean War had ceased before production. But then the Vietnam, Gulf and Iraq wars over the next few decades make the line seem even bleaker.
• Heartwarming Moments: Mira excitedly wakes up one morning and tells Marja about a dream she had about a wedding, happily saying that in the dream they had beautiful long hair down to their waists.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: Vera Miles was meant to play the female lead in Vertigo but was pregnant at the time. The film also stars Barbara Bel Geddes as something of a romantic rival for the character Vera would have played. In this film they get two-timed by the same man (well five-timed if you include the other three).
• Jerkass Woobie: The German may have been a philandering lech, but getting castrated just for sleeping around is not a pleasant fate...
• Signature Scene: Jovanka's hair being cut off is the most remembered moment of the film.
• Special Effect Failure: Barbara Bel Geddes was the only one of the five leads to not shave her head - and it shows.
• Tear Jerker:
  • Jovanka's passionate speech about how she did not care about the German soldier's nationality and he was just a man she fell in love with seems like it'll be an Awesome Moment...but then she's told "there were five of you that he cared for". She already looks so defeated as they begin cutting her hair.
  • Ljuba after her haircut is curled up in a corner with her cut-off strands all around her and solemnly asks her brother why he didn't stop them. He coldly responds "because I agree with them".
  • Daniza being executed as punishment for having sex on duty. She can only tearfully apologise to everyone before they kill her.
• Values Resonance: This one of the most feminist war movies ever made. Five female protagonists, all with developed personalities and established identities. When forced out of their village, they band together to survive in the wilderness and decide to join the partisans. Multiple times they fight against the Stay in the Kitchen attitude of a couple of leches, pointing out that if help is needed that it doesn't matter what gender the helper is. There's also surprisingly little fuss made about the women taking up guns themselves.
• Vindicated by Cable: The film didn't make much of an impression when it was first released, but has garnered a number of fans through airings on TV.
• The Woobie: All of the women qualify but special attention goes to Daniza - who only kissed the German and therefore was punished for something she never even did. Mira too ends up pregnant by the German. Luckily she's taken care of by the others.