Slideshow
MÄDCHEN IN UNIFORM
Germany, 1931
Directed by Leontine Sagan
Screenplay by Christa Winsloe
Based on the play Gestern und heute by Christa Winsloe
With Hertha Thiele, Dorothea Wieck, Emilia Unda
In German with Engish subtitles
Approx. 88 min. DCP.
Leontine Sagan’s moody, chiaroscuro-shadowed, all-female cast romance MÄDCHEN IN UNIFORM follows sensitive new student, Manuela, who falls in love with her mercurial governess at a girls boarding school. Subversively sensual (lingering gazes, languishing kisses) and unabashedly anti-authoritarian, the film celebrates girlhood with “masculinity brazenly and humorously represented as invertebrate and impotent, in contrast to the quicksilver vitality of the girls. This film belongs to women who are trying to find themselves—and each other—in spite of repressive structures.” – Amanda Lee Koe
Reviews
“Broke down doors for queer cinema, 90 years ago. Directed by a woman and without a single man in the cast, MÄDCHEN IN UNIFORM marked the way out ahead for queer cinema in its groundbreaking exploration of lesbian desire at a girls’ boarding school.”
– Sarah Cleary, BFI
“Its 'sensationalism' lies solely in the marvelously natural acting, keen direction, and superb camera work that make it a photoplay gem among gems.”
– Mae Tinee, Chicago Tribune
“One of the few films to have an inherently gay sensibility, it is also one of the most central to establishing a history of lesbian cinema.”
– B. Ruby Rich
“A beautiful, tender, and really artistic cinematic work… a film which pleases the eye constantly.”
– Mordaunt Hall, The New York Times