Maedchen in Uniform (Blu-ray Review)
Director
Géza von RadványiRelease Date(s)
1958 (September 16, 2025)Studio(s)
Central Cinema Company Film (Kino Classics)- Film/Program Grade: A-
- Video Grade: A-
- Audio Grade: A
- Extras Grade: B-
Review
Maedchen in Uniform (“Girls in Uniform,” 1958) is a remake of the acclaimed 1931 German romantic drama of the same name regarded as a landmark of queer cinema. The newer film, by contrast, is viewed as much more conservative and circumspect, and thus was met with mixed-to-negative reviews. My take, however, is that it’s simply more intriguingly ambiguous rather than repressed or self-censored in any way; it doesn’t awkwardly dance around its subject manner in the manner of William Wyler’s 1961 film of The Children’s Hour, which has a similar story and setting. Director Géza von Radványi’s remake is excellent on its own terms, partly because he (presumably deliberately) allows the film’s viewers to interpret questions left unanswered. Just like George Cukor’s The Women (1939), the cast is made up entirely of women and girls, but does this so subtly, unlike Cukor’s gimmicky feature, that one hardly notices.
Following the death of her mother, in 1910 Potsdam, Manuela von Meinhardis (20-year-old Romy Schneider, luminous) is sent to a strict boarding school for girls run by an authoritarian headmistress (Therese Giehse) who believes her duty is to not so much educate but transform young girls into future obedient wives and mothers of German soldiers. Perhaps accidentally, perhaps deliberately, her militaristic, nationalistic speeches to the girls resemble those of Adolf Hitler.
The only member of the teaching staff to exhibit any empathy toward Manuela is the middle-aged but attractive teacher Miss Elisabeth von Bernburg (top-billed Lilli Palmer), adored by all the girls. When Manuela has trouble adjusting to this new, harsh environment, Miss von Bernburg subtly nurtures her, and Manuela gains enough confidence to appear as Romeo in the school’s production of Romeo and Juliet. Yet, over the course of the play’s rehearsals, Manuela’s growing attraction/obsession for her teacher, the older woman somewhat aware and trying to keep a professional distance, reaches a breaking point.
It’s left up to the viewer to decide whether Manuela’s passionate love for Miss von Bernburg is a kind of burgeoning lesbian awakening or simply projecting a desperate need for a surrogate mother. Likewise, it’s equally unclear whether the unmarried teacher is herself a lesbian, though little in the film hints at this. Her ramrod-straight posture and cool, professional detachment, even when kissing her charges goodnight on the forehead, gives away nothing. Indeed, the dominating theme of the film seems to be the essential need for empathy and understanding in all our lives, that when thrust into an environment where emotional giving is rare and actively discouraged, emotionally a person like Manuela will seize upon what little is available to her like a starving man to a slice of bread.
The film is very well made on all counts. Some critics argued the film should have been in black-and-white instead of color, but both the cinematography and art direction drain the school of bright, primary hues—everything has a muted and oppressive appearance.
Romy Schneider became a major star as Elisabeth of Austria in Sissi (1955) and its two sequels. This was an attempt by her to break away from that type of cinematic marzipan, and it certainly revealed a far more deeply talented actress even though the film was not a critical success. It played into her strengths, Schneider’s ability to reach deep into her characters’ emotional core, the start of a quarter-century run as one of Europe’s finest actresses, a career sadly cut short by her untimely death in 1982 at just 43. Lilli Palmer is also excellent in a difficult role, one in which her character can’t be expressive or demonstrative most of the time.
Perhaps the greatest surprise is the work of Therese Giehse, a stage actress perhaps best known for her association with Bertolt Brecht—she originated the role of Mother Courage in Mother Courage and Her Children, in 1941. With her notably foreboding screen presence—she’s like a combination of Peter Lorre and Minerva Urecal—she come off as a true believer of her extremist views that, today, would be considered abusive. Yet in the film’s final scenes she undergoes a slight transformation requiring a superb actress to make those moments even remotely credible yet Giehse does just that.
Kino’s Blu-ray, part of its Kino Classics line, is licensed from CCC Filmkunst and presented in its original 1.66:1 widescreen aspect ratio. It showcases cinematographer’s Werner Krien’s muted color photography well; the image is impressively sharp with no signs of wear or damage. Besides the original German soundtrack, in DTS-HD Master Audio (2.0 mono), a French audio track is also available. As both Schneider and Palmer spoke French, one assumes their voices are heard on that soundtrack, but the German is definitely the way to go because of its cast. The optional English subtitles are excellent, and the disc is Region “A” encoded.
The single supplement is an audio commentary track by writer and filmmaker Drew Burnett Gregory.
Maedchen in Uniform is, in its way, a refreshing classic foreign film precisely because it doesn’t lay all its cards on the table so plainly. The viewer must be attentive to catch its subtleties, and even then, it offers few definitive answers. Highly Recommended.
- Stuart Galbraith IV