Mädchen in Uniform

Life of girls in a boarding school in pre-world war II Germany. Adolescent love in a time of austerity of the heart where being gay is considered sinful. This is a remake of the original movie which came out in 1931. Outstanding interpretation by all the characters.

Before watching "Mädchen in Uniform" I knew Romy Schneider only as "Sissi" and had absolutely no clue who Lilli Palmer was. First, I was suspicious: A German movie from the fifties? Should be another ridiculous comedy with a lot of colourful pictures and "funny" music. But what a surprise the drama was!

First of all: It was very courageous. If you think at the time the movie was shot in I find it courageus to make a drama about homosexuality and furthermore about a forbidden passion between a teacher and a student.

And then of course: Romy Schneider. In her young years she is best known for such ridiculous films as "Sissi" or "Wenn der weiße Flieder wieder blüht". But "Mädchen in Uniform" is the most remarkable one. There she shows: I am much more and more serious than you think and I am not just a nice little girl always looking pretty, lovely and smiling into the camera. I think, after she made this movie it was clear that she would make a great career because she is a gifted, exceptional actress.

And of course Lilli Palmer: Beautiful, proud, very lady-like, elegant and full of seriousness but very young at the same time. I'm out of words if it comes to describing her talent. But I think, you all agree if I say that she is one of the greatest German actresses.

A great movie, definetely one of the most important German dramas od the fifties and always worth remembering and watching it over and over again. Besides: There is some good taste of humour in it.

Leontine Sagan's 1931 classic movie underwent some changes: the military side was sweetened and the patriotic hymns turned canticles ; the thirst of vengeance after WW1 was intense and girls were always remembered that they were soldiers ' daughters and future soldiers' mothers.The zeitgeist was different in the late fifties .

Yet Geza Radvanyi 's remake was useful because many people would never have watched the black and white version ;and thanks to the two principals ,this is a good remake ;Lili Palmer gives a restrained but extremely sensitive performance .As for Romy Schneider ,it was an act of self-renewal :sick and tired of her schmaltzy Sissi saga ,she wanted to get rid of this nice empress's clothes , her shirt of Nessus ,and the part of a girl who falls in love with her (female ) teacher was a godsend.She is extremely attractive ,in Romeo's clothes (Sagan 's Schiller was replaced by Shakespeare ,not a bad choice,because the English playwright's work depicts a doomed love )

Radvanyi would direct Schneider again ,this time in a mushy comedy " Ein Engel auf Erde" ;but it does not matter ; with "Mädchen " ,the actress had begun her move towards brighter horizons.

Needless (very close, with a few more exterior shots) remake that doesn't have the impact or the passion of the 1931 film (for one thing, there are too few closeups), but does have its moments (I actually liked the new "first kiss" and found it more fitting) and retains its progressive, anti-establishment spirit. The original remains the priority viewing, but this remake is far from a disgrace. *** out of 4.

The plot of the movie revolves around the romantic feelings that schoolgirl Manuela develops for her same-sex teacher Madame (Freulein) Elizabeth von Bernburg in 1910 in a catholic boarding school in Prussia. Based on a biographically inspired play by German author Crista Winsloe it is foremost a critic of the old fashioned conservative beliefs that uses the unusual love story as the perfect all-in-one solution to reveal their ugly face. The schoolgirls, their hair tightly restrained, are marching in grey uniforms which are a sort of hybrid between a cooking apron and a military uniform. Deprivation from normal size meals and icy- toned communication are ways by which the Headmistress wants to achieve "zucht, ordnung und abhärtung". (Discipline, order and toughening up). She, the "Madame Superior", is a discipline fanatic that genuinely believes that if she is to fail in maintaining this rigorous regime with the girls, Prussia's own integrity will be at stake one day and anarchy will come to rein. Neither Manuela, nor Madame von Bernburg adhere to this ideology and so their mutual complicity is born. Manuela, the feeble, emotional child, that griefs over her recently deceased mother is the complete opposite of the expected "product" from this strict educational style. The authoritarian teacher is expected to produce though but obedient and submissive women which will make good wives and mothers of soldiers! (Ironically enough, the generation of young women that inspired the original story grew to become mothers of the Nazi soldiers in reality). Madame von Bernburg, on the other hand, is sensitive to the girls need for compassion and support. She shows affection in order to change the old ways that she was also submitted to when being a schoolgirl herself. In the historical era where this story takes place (the Weimar Republic), love between two women was unimaginable, let alone one between a student and it's teacher. The director Géza von Rdvanyi adds the age difference to this "outrageous story" by casting Romy Schneider (Manuela) and Lilli Palmer (Elizabeth von Bernburg) that have 22 years in between. The kiss, the steamy looks and the seemingly wide spread homosexuality subtly implied in most of the conversations between the girls is masterfully disguised as an innocent coming-of-age story. The attention is mainly put on the internal emotional experiences of Manuela, hers "head over hills" for the teacher, the admiration and love that can be divined from her every gesture and word. On the other hand, Ms. Von Bernburg character is more reserved and ambiguous. The Script is perfectly fitted, with no unnecessary ornaments and actresses are made to act naturally, which they do perfectly, with no displaced overdone drama that was common for the movies in the 60's. A noticeable decor in the movie are the quotes of famous authors inscribed as a sort of posters on the otherwise quite empty interior walls of the School. An excellent graphical display of the School's principles. "People exist on this world not to be happy, but to do their duty" "The School of life has no holydays" "We are here to become, not to be" "As the effort, so the harvest" The only one missing from the walls is "Kinder, Kirche, Küche" (Child, Church, Kitchen) presented as the correct destiny of women by the Headmistress. This unique film with its humor, drama and subtleness criticizes conservative practices, homophobia and even nationalism. It is a remarkable piece of art, which, with its modernity resembles to the contemporary movies in every aspect and seems to have been simply misplaced in time.