A milestone in the lesbian cinema ,"Mädchen in Unform " can reach and move all the audiences .
The movie opens with statues of warriors and ends with the sound of a buggle ; it was 1931, German had lost WW1 and militarism ran rampant here there and everywhere ,even in a girls boarding-school ."You are soldiers' daughters and you will be soldiers' mothers " the headmistress tells them ;Hitler's youth is just some years away: the girls were also integrated in the "jungmädelbund " where they were taught to be good housewives and good mothers ; in Leontine Sagan's work , girls are denied feelings , the individual does not exist , an iron discipline (the students march and sing patriotic hymns); to complain about the meager meals ,it is out of the question.
There is not a single male character ,even in a minor role ; when Manuela falls in love with her teacher ,it's a rebel stand :girls are supposed to marry ,but later ,and to provide the homeland with children .Schiller's play is an extraordinary way for Manuela to make a declaration of love : her teacher herself is a anomaly :she does not get on with her colleagues because she can understand that with a mother's loss , a girl got a raw deal .
Herta Thiele and Dorothea Wieck are extremely sensitive and win over the audience ;their rebellion is an antidote to emotional fascism .
The movie opens with statues of warriors and ends with the sound of a buggle ; it was 1931, German had lost WW1 and militarism ran rampant here there and everywhere ,even in a girls boarding-school ."You are soldiers' daughters and you will be soldiers' mothers " the headmistress tells them ;Hitler's youth is just some years away: the girls were also integrated in the "jungmädelbund " where they were taught to be good housewives and good mothers ; in Leontine Sagan's work , girls are denied feelings , the individual does not exist , an iron discipline (the students march and sing patriotic hymns); to complain about the meager meals ,it is out of the question.
There is not a single male character ,even in a minor role ; when Manuela falls in love with her teacher ,it's a rebel stand :girls are supposed to marry ,but later ,and to provide the homeland with children .Schiller's play is an extraordinary way for Manuela to make a declaration of love : her teacher herself is a anomaly :she does not get on with her colleagues because she can understand that with a mother's loss , a girl got a raw deal .
Herta Thiele and Dorothea Wieck are extremely sensitive and win over the audience ;their rebellion is an antidote to emotional fascism .