Opening: The rape scene

The rape scene in the first 4 minutes of the movie was way more disturbing than portrayed in the book!

The book by Thomas Rosenboom on which the movie was based makes it a point to portray the workers community as having lost most of their identity and decency because of the poverty and dismal conditions they were in.
In the book, the daughter (Johanna) and the young man (Sieger) had had a sexual relationship with consent of both parents for nearly 2 years. Sieger became frustrated because Johanna didn't get pregnant so they could marry as was the custom in their community. Finally in a drunken stupor the by now desperate Sieger entered the hovel and had sex with Johanna in front of her family to prove he had been trying all along. It was a disturbing scene in the book, but only appeared in the third chapter and then not as graphic and sudden as portrayed in the movie.

By showing the scene out of context liked this for apparent shock value, the first 4 minutes overshadowed whatever drama the rest of the movie tried to convey.