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ARCHIVE

6th(2004)



The German Sisters / Die Bleierne Zeit

Margarethe VON TROTTA

  • Germany
  • 1981
  • 106min
  • 35mm
  • color

SYNOPSIS

What is the meaning of writing history? And how does it happen? Who watches whom and elucidate? This film is based on the real story of Gudrun Ensslin, a female terrorist who stood still in the vortex of ¡®Autumn of 1977 in Germany¡¯ and her elder sister Christiane Ensslin, who tried to understand Gudrun and her political actions from the perspective of a women living in the same age. Telling the story of the sisters with electric tension and heartbreakingly beautiful emotions, this film tries to give feminist answer to the long-unsolved question of writing history.
 The film portrays the relationship of the two sisters: Marianne, an extreme left-wing terrorist, becomes politically active about the third world problems. She is imprisoned for terror attack and died there. The government reports that she committed suicide in prison. Meanwhile, Julliane, a chief editor of feminist magazine, is also in active on feminist issues such as leading demonstration for pro choice groups about abortion. For her sister¡¯s son Jan, she confronts an imperative duty to find ¡®another way of writing¡¯ about her sister in history as a revolutionist, not as a criminal. By telling the story of the two sisters, this film analyzes the inner workings of post-war German society, hidden by numerous lies and concealments, The German Sisters marvelously explores the possibility of ¡®another way of history writing¡¯.
 Sisters¡¯ hands: these hands never stop caring each other even in anger. These hands understand and remember the sisters¡¯ embodied experiences. Memories, deeply engraved and vividly living in these hands, lead us to another stratum of history unknown to the male ones. (Kim Young-ok)
 

PROGRAM NOTE

What is the meaning of writing history? And how does it happen? Who watches whom and elucidate? This film is based on the real story of Gudrun Ensslin, a female terrorist who stood still in the vortex of ¡®Autumn of 1977 in Germany¡¯ and her elder sister Christiane Ensslin, who tried to understand Gudrun and her political actions from the perspective of a women living in the same age. Telling the story of the sisters with electric tension and heartbreakingly beautiful emotions, this film tries to give feminist answer to the long-unsolved question of writing history.
 The film portrays the relationship of the two sisters: Marianne, an extreme left-wing terrorist, becomes politically active about the third world problems. She is imprisoned for terror attack and died there. The government reports that she committed suicide in prison. Meanwhile, Julliane, a chief editor of feminist magazine, is also in active on feminist issues such as leading demonstration for pro choice groups about abortion. For her sister¡¯s son Jan, she confronts an imperative duty to find ¡®another way of writing¡¯ about her sister in history as a revolutionist, not as a criminal. By telling the story of the two sisters, this film analyzes the inner workings of post-war German society, hidden by numerous lies and concealments, The German Sisters marvelously explores the possibility of ¡®another way of history writing¡¯.
 Sisters¡¯ hands: these hands never stop caring each other even in anger. These hands understand and remember the sisters¡¯ embodied experiences. Memories, deeply engraved and vividly living in these hands, lead us to another stratum of history unknown to the male ones. (Kim Young-ok)
 

Director

  • Margarethe VON TROTTAMargarethe VON TROTTA

    Margarethe VON TROTTA is a renowned German director who started as a movie and theater actress, making her movie debut in Klaus LEMKE¡¯s Firestarters. Her much-respected first directorial work was The Second Awakening of Christa Klages. She made several author films such as Sisters to the Balance of Happiness and Marianne & Juliane, which won the Golden Lion in Venice in 1981. In 2012 she received the honorary award of the Bavarian Minister President. VON TROTTA is currently working on a documentary about Ingmar Bergmann.

Credit

  • ProducerEberhard Junkersdorf
  • Cast Jutta Lampe, Barbara Sukowa, Rüdiger Vogler
  • Cinematography Franz Rath
  • Editor Dagmar Hirtz
  • Music Nicolas Economou