Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Sorry, this movie sucks

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

"Mädchen in Uniform" or "Girls in Uniform" is a German film from 85 years ago that is in black-and-white and runs for slightly over 80 minutes. The main character here is a girl with lesbian tendencies and it was obviously the filmmakers' intention that we like here, so you can imagine how the Nazis, who came into power 2 years later, saw this film. It was banned and tried to eradicate from existence. Luckily there were not successful and copies of it still exist today. Another reason why they hated it was certainly the anti-authoritarian plot here with all the actresses playing students and staff at an all-girls school. And the main antagonist was the old Oberin, the head of the institute, with her strict rules and regulations. Not only one of the film's director is female (Leontine Sagan), but the entire cast here is. No males included.I thought it took a while till the film really became good, but the longer it goes, the better it becomes. I would not call it a mus-see, but it certainly has its moments and a pretty dramatic final sequence too. the last show with the head mistress leaving is also quite good. Today, none of the actresses in here are really famous, but the film still is, probably more famous than the remake starring Romy Schneider from the 1950s. I think both films are good and I recommend checking them out. Thumbs up for "Mädchen in Uniform".

My initial reaction to this film was that it served no purpose. It seemed, to me at least, to be about a German boarding school for girls who mostly had lesbian infatuations with their teacher and other students. Although this is what it is mainly about, its true nature is to illustrate the bonds and relationships created between friends, and also to show the importance of a maternal figure in a girl's life. When Manuela first arrives at the school, she has a gap in her life that would usually be filled by a mother figure. Because her mother died, her father did not know how to take care of her, and her aunt did not give her the love she needed, she searches for someone who can give her what she has been lacking for so long. Fraulein von Bernburg is the teacher who can do this. She is strict with the students, yet does not punish them. She treats Manuela in a way she does no other. If this love began as something similar to the type a family would share, it slowly transitions to something more than that. It creates a bond between them that is not permitted in the school, but in the end it allows both Manuela and Fraulein von Bernburg to be set free from the oppression of the school. A criticism I have, though, is the ending. Once the finale occurs, it just ends. No closure is brought to these characters. Although it was a touching story line, for the most part, this movie was not very entertaining.

Even though this film wasn't the most crowd-pleasing one I've seen lately, I think it's a rather important one. The openly lesbian themes of the movie are quite surprising, considering that the movie was made in 1931. The theme of sexual discovery in a girls' boarding school was quite revolutionary for film at the time. It was also an interesting critique of society, and was very anti-fascist. The Prussian principal represents the authoritarian, militaristic aspect of society, while the kind teacher represents a more maternal and loving part. The combination of lesbian themes with that kind character shows us that a more female-dominated society would be a positive change. The Prussian school shows that women are oppressed by patriarchal society into a militaristic machine, and the rebel teacher is a movement away from that. This film is an intriguing view of life right before Hitler. It provides a meaningful glimpse into the lesbian subculture of Berlin before the Nazis came to power.

This was more than a gay classic, this film was a social commentary on the time period it was set in. We all now well know the views held on homosexuality by Hitler's socialist party which was coming into power during the time this movie was made. The entire film foreshadowed many of the things that would happen to people who were not seen as desirable in the eyes of the German government. One part especially, where the students and teachers were forbidden to have contact with Manuela, spoke of the public shunning of Jews and other so-called undesirables who were forbidden contact with other people. Of the three movies that Leontine Sagan directed this was the only one made in Germany. Given the fact that Sagan was of Jewish ancestry and the main theme of this movie was of love between women, it's not hard to see why her career in Germany was short lived.