Madchen in Uniform

Year of Release:  1931

Director:  Leontine Sagan

Screenplay:  Christa Winsloe and Freidrich Dammann, based on the stage play Gesten und heute (Yesterday and Today) by Christa Winsloe

Starring:  Hertha Thiele, Dorothea Wieck

Running Time:  98 minutes

Genre:  Drama

Following the death of her mother, sensitive teenager Manuela von Meinhardis (Thiele) is enrolled at a strict Prussian boarding school, run with an iron fist by a stern, penny-pinching headmistress (Emilia Unda).  Manuela forms a bond with kindly teacher Fräulein von Berberg (Wieck), but as the connection between the two deepens, it threatens to bring ruin for both of them.

Based on a stage play by Christa Winsloe, Mädchen in Uniform is notable for it's sympathetic treatment of lesbianism and all-female cast.  The film is about the love of a fourteen year old for her adult schoolteacher, who also seems to have inappropriate feelings for her, however the creepy factor is considerably lessened by the fact that Hertha Thiele, who plays Manuela, is obviously much older than 14 (she was was 22 at the time of filming, and was, in fact the same age as Dorothea Wieck, who plays her teacher).  A key theme on the film is the conflict between two forms of authority:  The headmistress rules through strict discipline and demands blind, unquestioning obedience.  She also deliberately makes the girls go hungry and has them wear hand-me-down clothes until they fall apart, partly to save money and partly to build character, and, ruling by fear, is hated by her pupils.  Fräulein von Berberg, however, treats her charges with kindness and respect, which is reciprocated by the girls, many of whom develop crushes on her, partly due to her habit of kissing each of them goodnight.  They each receive the chaste kiss on the forehead as almost a sacrament, except Manuela who embraces von Berberg, and kisses her fully on the mouth.  Considering this was a German film, which was released in 1931 when Hitler and the Nazis were on the rise, makes the anti-authoritarian angle even more powerful.  The film is well performed, and visually stylish, using a lot of clever camera angles, and sensitivity to light and shadow, that bring to mind German Expressionism, although this is certainly not an Expressionist film.  It is a heartbreaking and beautiful film, and. milestone in LGBT cinema.

Dorothea Wieck and Hertha Thiele in Mädchen in Uniform