Marianne and Juliane | Die bleierne Zeit

106 minutes | 1981 | Director Margarethe von Trotta | West Germany | German with English subtitles | NTSC

Marianne and Juliane (German: Die bleierne Zeit; lit. The Leaden Time or Leaden Times, also called The German Sisters in the United Kingdom, is a 1981 West German film directed by Margarethe von Trotta.

The screenplay is a fictionalized account of the true lives of Christiane and Gudrun Ensslin. Gudrun, a member of The Red Army Faction, was found dead in her prison cell in Stammheim in 1977. In the film, Von Trotta depicts the two sisters Juliane (Christine) and Marianne (Gudrun) through their friendship and journey to understanding each other. Marianne and Juliane was von Trotta’s third film and solidified her position as a director of the New German Cinema. Marianne and Juliane also marked the first time that von Trotta worked with Barbara Sukowa. They would go on to work on six more films together.

This film was well received and became a platform for Von Trotta as a director of the new German cinema. Though she was not as highly recognized as her male counterparts, the New German Cinema and the study of the more human side of contemporary political issues (like terrorism in this case) became her focus. In regards to the film, Barton Byg notes, “rather than criticize hysterical responses to terrorism, the film employs its emotive power” (Finn 47).

In America the film was pitched to be less about terrorism and the emotional side of the strained relationship but more about a sisterly relationship that was searching for understanding. (Finn) The film did not meet only with praise. It was also criticized for attempting to “hide” its meaning behind the sister-sister relationship. A meaning that was empathetic to the plight of the terrorist-activist. Charlotte Delorme, a critic, stated: “If Marianne and Juliane were really what it claims to be it would not have gotten any support, distribution, and exhibition.” (Finn) Acclaimed director Ingmar Bergman named the film as one of his favourite eleven films of all time in 1994.