Marianne & Juliane

Director: Margarethe von Trotta
(1981)

Two sisters raised in conservative 1950’s Germany find themselves moved to help bring about political reform and save humanity in the 1970’s. What begins as political idealism and passion to bring peace changes suddenly into a serious study of the evolution of ideals when Marianne joins a terrorist group and is imprisoned after participating in a bombing. Unable to forget the closeness she and her sister felt growing up together, feminist journalist Juliane sacrifices her marriage, career and life to report the truth about Marianne and stand by her side. Margarethe von Trotta is dedicated to the subject and her tenacity and passion shine through, inspiring excellent performances by the two leads and the theme of sisterhood is examined from all angles— von Trotta trusts viewers to gather all of the facts, much like Juliane and make up their own minds but does her best as a filmmaker to move us over the course of the film.