Mädchen in Uniform (1931)

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Mädchen in Uniform Movie Review

Mädchen in Uniform is a 1931 German drama film directed by Leontine Sagan. It is truly a one of a kind film that is one of the most memorable and different movies from this period.

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“What you call sin, I call the great spirit of love,

which takes a thousand forms“

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I really respected this movie and it just fascinated me with its many intriguing aspects. So it is a love story between a teacher and a student and it is thus one of the first lesbian films ever. That is of course revolutionary. But the film is also interesting for revolving around female boarding school and having no male characters whatsoever. And to me the most interesting thing is its attack on Nazism. The teachers are obviously overly strict and harsh and I thought that parallel was really well accomplished and certainly ahead of its time.

I liked the characters quite a bit, all memorable and realistic. The relationship at the center of it is strong and there are a couple of sweet, romantic moments to be had here. But it was still a bit creepy to me personally as the age difference is vast and Manuela is basically a child at the ege of fourteen. That made the movie provocative even for this time in my opinion. But having in mind when it was made, I guess 14 wasn’t considered that young for that time period. I liked the headmistress, her final moment was revelatory and so powerful in its subtleness. And of course the girls are all great and I loved how they wanted to help Manuela.

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Mädchen in Uniform is a very well acted with all around excellent performances and very well directed feature. One of the things that impressed was its use of sound which is quite professional and advanced for the time when the sound just arrived and most filmmakers struggled with it. The dialogue also impressed me as it was grounded in nature and always more subtle than on the nose which it easily could have been with its provocative plot.

The only thing that bothered me here is its running time which is just way too short. I guess that some scenes are probably lost as it seemed like it watching the version I’ve watched, but still the film felt way too rushed and abrupt. Had it been longer, it would have been much more effective as this way it ended up somewhat hurting the character development in particular.

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Mädchen in Uniform has a bunch of memorable lines and scenes in it. To me the first act is somewhat inferior, but the rest two are great and there lie a lot of great scenes. Of course the final sequence is just amazing, so well executed and I just loved its meaningful, emotional conclusion. But the arrival of the princess was also really well done and Manuela’s confession was great as that scene was powerful and so dramatic in style. The whole movie is great and a further proof of how excellent German cinema was in the twenties and early thirties. It is easy to see why it got banned as it is revolutionary even for this age and I respected it all the more for it. Such a fascinating, unique film.

Mädchen in Uniform certainly has too short running time, but it is otherwise such a great movie. It remains provocative and intriguing even today as its subject matter and its many themes are fascinating, different and ultimately so well explored. The film is superbly made across the board, but its dramatic as well as subtle approach is terrific, the strong emotion is evident and there are many unforgettable scenes here leading to one of the best German films of the thirties and definitely one of the most interesting and authentic movies from this period.