Warning:
spoilers
Maedchen
in Uniform (Germany, 1931) is considered one of the
first films ever to depict lesbian love. Not surprisingly,
it has a long and controversial history. The original movie
poster in Germany was forthright about the film’s
rather racy subject matter, featuring the film's teacher
and schoolgirl locked in an embrace. The American version
of the poster depicted the girl alone, offering no clues
that the central romantic tension lay between protagonists
not only of different generations but of the same gender.
The
homoeroticism of the original was likewise stripped away
when the film was remade in 1958 in Germany. An attempt
to re-release the original fell victim to a Hollywood
code that prohibited works “possessing the flavor
of sexual irregularity or perversion."
“Flavor”
is not a bad descriptor for a portrayal that is not quite
explicit but more than just suggestive. Manuela, a 14-year-old
who looks closer to 17, is brought to a Prussian boarding
school for girls after her mother has died. At first she
is withdrawn and depressed, but when she falls for everyone’s
favorite teacher, the young Fraulein von Bernburg, her despair
is replaced by elation.
That
is, until Manuela’s unbridled emotions get her and
von Bernburg in trouble with the school’s heartless
and authoritarian principal.
The
students’ communal crush on von Bernburg
is an open secret. Manuela is perplexed to find a slip of
paper bearing the initials EVB with a heart drawn around
them in the pocket of her “new” uniform. The
woman who has just issued it to her nonchalantly explains
that the initials belong to Elisabeth von Bernburg, and
the uniform must have previously belonged to a girl who
was in love with her.
When
the other girls meet Manuela and learn that she has been
assigned to von Bernburg’s class they react with obvious
glee and envy. One girl coos that von Bernburg is everyone’s
favorite. She warns Manuela about the spell von Bernburg
casts on all of her pupils and teasingly tells her not to
fall in love.
The
most striking and entertaining evidence of the group infatuation
comes when von Bernburg enters the dormitory at bedtime
to turn out the lights and give each of her charges a goodnight
kiss. On their knees at the foot of the bed, the girls exchange
knowing looks and await their turn. Fraulein von Bernburg
makes her rounds, grasps each girl’s face in her hands
and pressing her lips to their foreheads, sending them swooning
back to their pillows. One girl gasps, “I’m
next!” before throwing her head back and closing her
eyes in anticipation.
Manuela one-ups that performance and flings her arms around
von Bernburg’s neck. The music swells as the teacher
cocks her head to the side and plants one directly on Manuela’s
lips.
Page
1 / 2 - Next
