穿制服的女孩

Double features time! German female filmmaker Leontine Sagan’s MÄDCHEN IN UNIFORM is a vanguard of queer cinema made in 1931, and William Wyler’s THESE THREE, arrived 5 years later, is based on Lilian Hellman’s sapphic play The Children’s Hour, but lesbianism is completely effaced due to the Hays Code, and Wyler would later remake a “veritable” version in 1961 starring Audrey Hepburn, Shirley MacLaine and James Garner.

MÄDCHEN IN UNIFORM is adapted from Christa Winsloe’s play and old hand Carl Froelich is credited as the artistic director to lend a helping hand to Sagan’s first feature. Corralling an all-female cast, the story is exclusively confined in an all-girl boarding school in the dog end of the Weimar Republic.

Governed by a prim and property headmistress (Unda, an exemplary schoolmarm adorned by a pair of pince-nez), the school aims to groom young daughters from military families to be child-bearers of future soldiers, the headmistress exclaims that they should be raised on hunger and discipline. But where there is oppression, there is revolt, not all the girls are toeing the line, especially the vivacious Ilse von Westhagen (Schwanneke), a mischief-maker whose misdeed (smuggling letter to her parents for more money because them girls are always hungry, even in Sundays), doesn’t deteriorate only because the caring intervention of Fraülein von Bernburg (Wieck), the judicious, tender governess who doesn’t see eye to eye with headmistress’ imperious command.

Fraülein von Bernburg is the star teacher that every girl admires and adores, and her goodnight kiss is a ritual of utter bliss. For a 14-year-old Manuela (Thiele), her attachment to Fraülein von Bernburg is more intense, unlike others, their goodnight kiss is on the lips, and she falls in love with her (she can barely speak in front of Fraülein von Bernburg, a fool-proof sign of infatuation), but as an adult, Fraülein von Bernburg knows better not to spoil this fragile bond and overstep the boundary. When Manuela is the worse for drink after a successful school play, she lets slip her secret in a fit of euphoria, and its repercussions are resoundingly pathos-stricken, yet, the film is anything but a misery porn, after flags up its anti-Fascist message, it propitiously brings down the curtains and leaves the denouement in ambiguity rather than anything more concrete. That said, its "love is love" affirmation ought not to be eclipsed by its vehement political opprobrium.

Wieck has a very peculiar presence of mind and impassive mien which suggests charisma, mystery and indissolubility, and Thiele possesses that photogenic and expressive visage of innocuousness, youthfulness and vulnerability, it is very hard to credit they have the same age, both were born in 1908. Kudos to the casting process! Then, speaking of Sagan’s directorial endeavor, it is to her credit that we do not feel constrained in a single location, her camera never feels plodding, her sense of composition is overall felicitous, like the vertiginous shot which foreshadows where a tragedy might occur, or the remarkable close-ups foregrounded in soft focus. Moreover, her female identity also helps to reassure the young female cast and elicit most spontaneous reactions and outburst from them, not to mention the jubilant solidarity. Sagan’s proficiency can contend with those from any member of the other sex, yet she only made three movies in her entire life, which makes MÄDCHEN IN UNIFORM such a puissant hue and cry to redress the inequality in the director’s chair, and individually, it is an endearingly stirring film completed with true grits and pluperfect tact.

THESE THREE, on the other hand, except for being marred for its inborn cop-out, is almost identical with THE CHILDREN’S HOUR (1961), Hellman’s dialogue remains largely intact even if the central Uranian affection is debased to a heteronormative love triangle. Two best-friends-cum-school-teachers, Martha Dobie (Hopkins) and Karen Wright (Oberon), both attract to the wholesomely handsome doctor Joseph Cardin (McCrea), but he takes the shine to Karen, so Martha has to hide her feelings.

But a vicious lie from one of their care, the bratty, self-serving, manipulative Mary Tilford (Granville) will shatter the fabric of their school and relationships, as simple as that. However, poetic justice might arrive belatedly, it is never absent. But by that point, audience might be too despondent and benumbed to toss a care. Most afterthought can be aptly copied from my review of THE CHILDREN’S HOUR (1961), but there are some divergence.

For one thing, Granville’s Oscar-nominated performance of an obnoxious bad seed is so extreme and single-minded (Patty McCormack gives a more superior impression of spill-chilling apathy in Mervyn LeRoy’s THE BAD SEED, 1956), a sense of awe actually transpires when she finally gets a whack in the face, in the hands of none other than the fearsome Margaret Hamilton, how satisfactory it is! And in the realm of prodigious child actors, Marcia Mae Jones’ extraordinary embodiment of the patsy Rosalie Wells is every bit as stupendous if not more. Tellingly, those young girls' copious theatrics may betray the difference whether they are handled by a man or a woman.

While THESE THREE is unexceptionable in its narratology and stock soundstage artificiality, no one should deny Hellman’s script is a fertile land for its actresses, Catherine Doucet’s highfalutin and exceedingly self-serving Auntie Mortar (a role played by Hopkins in the 1961 remake) might be bracketed as one of the most odious characters ever on the screen (with Granville’s Mary hot on her heels), yet her unrepentant carriage and locution is fabulous to gape. As a different kind of irritant, Amelia Tilford, Mary’s doting grandmother, stage thespian Alma Kruger, in her very first screen role, presides over with utter composure and later, registers a dignified pang of guilt and pain that comes to save the day.

Among the three leads, McCrea ekes out just adequate charm to convince us he is a catcher, he has more fun throwing sideswipes at Auntie Mortar than spouting sweet-nothings; and Oberon, right in her prime and is game enough to be chipper but also has that essential demureness as a classic Hollywood diva, almost virtuous to a fault. So, we can only rely on Hopkins to ginger up a semblance of perversion that goes missing in the revamped story, and she is there does what she does best, adding layers and layers of pent-up emotions (both to Joseph and her aunt) even there is nothing happens exteriorly. Why her Martha shouldn’t have a darling of her own? There must be a man for her in Vienna too, perhaps a woman even? In THESE THREE’s gynophobic backwater, Martha is an echt heroine and the film fails her cravenly.

referential entries: Wyler’s THE CHILDREN’S HOUR (1961, 7.3/10); Josef von Sternberg’s THE BLUE ANGEL (1930, 7.4/10).

Title: Mädchen in Uniform

Year: 1931

Country: Germany

Language: German, French, English

Genre: Drama, Romance

Director: Leontine Sagan

Screenwriters: Christa Winsloe, Friedrich Dammann

based on the play by Christa Winsloe

Music: Hanson Milde-Meissner

Cinematography: Reimer Kuntze, Franz Weihmayr

Editing: Oswald Hafenrichter

Cast:

Hertha Thiele

Dorothea Wieck

Emilia Unda

Hedy Krilla

Ellen Schwanneke

Gertrud de Lalsky

Erika Mann

Annemarie von Rochhausen

Else Ehser

Rating: 8.1/10

Title: These Three

Year: 1936

Country: USA

Language: English

Genre: Drama, Romance

Director: William Wyler

Screenwriter: Lillian Hellman

Music: Alfred Newman

Cinematography: Gregg Toland

Editing: Daniel Mandell

Cast:

Miriam Hopkins

Merle Oberon

Joel McCrea

Catherine Doucet

Bonita Granville

Alma Kruger

Marcia Mae Jones

Carmencita Johnson

Walter Brennan

Margaret Hamilton

Rating: 6.7/10

这是一部黑白片子，但我从头到尾都没有感受到女同色彩，我认为本片的核心是批判，通过同性之爱批判当时社会现状，为什么很多学生喜欢女老师并爱上女老师？这背后的原因是当时社会迂腐制度的必然结果。

这所军官家属的女子学校，校长们高呼德国意志信仰培养学生，老师却必须摆出高高在上姿态，服从是学生们的必须义务，学生给家里写信要被老师看过才能寄出，毫无平等自由可言。

而那位思想平等的老师成为了所有女生喜欢的对象，她关心学生，不咄咄逼人，很多女生都爱她喜欢她，她是被学校压迫下所有学生内心唯一可以慰藉的光，但需要强调是这不是爱，在那种环境下，那么多人爱上女老师是必言，是时代造成的必然，一位喜欢女老师的女生在醉酒后说出对女老师的喜欢被校长听到，校长要求所有老师学生孤立她，女学生无奈跳楼，好在有惊无险，女老师与校长谴责学校方式的影响，最后校长浑浑噩噩在走廊中行走的背影，让我看到了根深蒂固的压迫思想可能会觉醒的一丝丝微光。

作为历史上第一部女同片，其实我觉得女性之间的爱还是表达得比较含蓄的，如果不是夫人对女主特别的吻，以及上课时看向女主的目光，再加上女主最后因为再也见不到她想跳楼，我还差点以为这只是单纯的学生对温柔、理解学生的老师的倾慕崇拜。这部电影虽然是以学生与夫人之间的爱为线索，但我觉得它更多是在批判那个时候偏执地以纪律为上，贫穷就是幸福为上的思想(其实我觉得贫穷本质上还是经济本来就不好，校长为了要面子才这样说的)。最后校长黯然地退场，其实暗示着旧思想旧规则终将退场，人们终将迎来适合他们的真正幸福的生活。 其他:学生们在老师不在场时一起欢腾的场面以及学校工作人员也跟着他们一起欢乐的场面真的太可爱啦。

Junes filles en uniforme met en scène l'amour de Manuela pour sa professeure Mademoiselle de Bernburg au sein d'une institution à la discipline rigoureuse réservée aux filles de la haute société. C'est l'un des tous premiers films de l'histoire du cinéma à prendre pour sujet une histoire d'amour lesbien. Après un baiser furtivement échangé dans le dortoir, l'enseignante offre une chemise de corps à la jeune femme, qui lui confesse alors son affection et sa tourmente. Censuré par le régime nazi, ce drame emblématique de la République de Weimar distille une critique de la société patriarcale à l'aube des régimes totalitaires.

第19届法罗岛电影节第9个放映日为大家带来《穿制服的女孩》，下面请看前线规矩苛责的学校中的女生们试图抗争的评价了！

果树：

影片合格地还原出了一种节制的律动感，与全片的主题不谋而合。

Pincent：

给女孩们的一个个面孔特写！能感到僵死的制度下电影对她们的爱。

Morning：

很美，人美情美，但几次情节的递进脱离不了狗血，略微可惜。摄影很出彩，得益于这个空间，这个楼梯，做出了很艺术化的上下结构。也很会拍人，朦朦胧胧的滤镜，如果这所封闭的学校，她们虽没但不是真实。嬉闹的戏也拍得很有朝气不油腻，我几度想起《萍小姐的主意》。但确实就是在让人感觉好美好的时候就像突然电击一下的刺激一下情节，很扫兴。

一桶猫：

世界上第一部女同电影，核心在于批判，而人物略显扁平。

折射入网：

在自由、爱与强权、纪律中选择哪一个，不言而喻。

Her Majesty：

那个年代同性元素在电影里还没有变成符号性质的东西，所以整部电影的关注点和叙事方式和都与现在的同性片大不相同。

#FIFF19#DAY9的场刊评分将于稍后释出，请大家拭目以待了。

两个女生。在同样的年纪。共同出演了一部伟大的电影。

一位是十几岁青春的学生。赫塔提勒。很好的演绎了少女的心思和纯真。比现在的玛丽苏不知强多少倍。

一位是成熟稳重的老师。多萝西维克。把这位老师演绎的非常有魅力。因为本身的气质就很美好

那一天从楼梯拐角。相遇的那一刻。就已经注定了。会有很多的事物围绕着两人发展。四目相对时。虽然是老师的权威和学生的青涩碰撞在一起。有些尴尬和害怕。

《但更多的是藏不住的温暖与美好。然后一点一滴汇聚成包含了那一整个时代的美》

毫不夸张的说。是跨时代的意义。那个时候的爱真的很美好。如果不是战争。她们也许会有更好的发展。也不至于找不到其他电影

《跑题了。但战争岂是某些人可以避免的？更不会因为某些人而停止。只在正义真正到来之时。才会停息》

回到角色上来。玛努薇拉对冯.博恩伯格夫人。给我的感觉。是一种依恋。是一种崇拜。也包含着爱。的单纯情感。因为本身年龄就只有十几岁。

《母亲的早逝。使她幼小的心。受到了伤害。渴望得到关怀。但又有些敏感与怯懦。》

而冯.博恩伯格夫人。正是这样一位温柔的女性。虽然有时候也带着严肃。在学生犯错误的时候，但更多是温柔的一面

冯.博恩伯格夫人。对玛努微拉区别于其他人的关怀。并不是没有同等对待学生。而是出于自己心的喜爱。《就像喜欢一个人。但不会是喜欢所有人一样》

从那个吻可以看出。从老师的眼神也可以看出。对马努微拉是和其他学生明显不同的。甚至包括内心活动

可以说老师爱的是，这个女孩儿。而不因任何的身份。这样就很容易理解。但当时那个时代背景。年龄的限制。职业的道德。几乎不会有结果。

《所以重点就放在了批判教育上。太过严厉的教育是应该不在那么沉重和刻板》

没有绝对服从。才是真的遵守。才能有更好的学习环境。

《老师是真的爱玛努微拉。如果有第二部的话，学生长大了。明白了什么是爱情？如果在一起，将会是多么美好啊！》