"Die bleierne Zeit" or "Marianne & Juliane" or "The German Sisters" is a West German 105-minute film from 1981, so it has its 35th anniversary this year. The major plot in this film is all about women's rights, so it is fitting that this was made by Margarethe von Trotta, one of Germany's most successful female filmmakers. She worked on several occasions during her career with Barbara Sukowa and this is just one of these. Sukowa won a German Film Award for her portrayal here, her first, and she was around the age of 30 at this point. Her co-lead, Jutta Lampe, who was also nominated, but lost to Sukowa, was a bit older already. They play sisters here that both fight for rights of females. One does it as something you could perhaps call a terrorist already, so no surprise that she gets arrested. The other gives it a more reserved approach as she is a writer. The main male character, the boyfriend of one of the two women, is played by Rüdiger Vogler whom you may know from Wim Wenders' early works perhaps. This movie was really successful back then as it won many awards, including Best Picture at the German Film Awards that year. But, almost ironically given the film's topic, von Trotta did not get the Best Director trophy. My personal opinion about this film is not too positive. I think Lampe did a good job and if anybody deserved an award for it, then her. But Sukowa, who always plays the same characters and shows the same mannerisms, has been overrated by awards bodies for decades. Admittedly, here she is not as bad as in some of her worst work, but also far from good and certainly not deserving of any individual honors. The script is so-so. You probably need to care a whole lot about emancipation to see the good outweigh the bad in this one. I must say that I was never really too much interested in the main characters or what happened to them the way the story was depicted. That's why I have chosen to give it a thumbs-down. The German Film Awards got it wrong that year. It may have been the right choice not to submit this one to the Oscars. I don't recommend the watch.
Review of Marianne & Juliane
