Plot: (from IMDb)
Manuela (Hertha Thiele) is a spirited and independent teenager sent to a boarding school when her mother dies. The Prussian principal runs the school with an iron hand, believing that discipline and hunger strengthen a girl's character. Like the rest of the girls, Manuela develops a crush on Elizabeth Von Bernburg (Dorothea Wieck), a young teacher who believes it's important to be the children's trusted friend. Manuela's mistake is to announce her love in front of guests and students at a party following a school play. How will the principal discipline Manuela, and how will Fraulein Von Bernberg, Manuela, and the other girls react to the principal's decisions?
Lesbian content:
I had only watched the kiss up until recently (Anais and June are watching the kiss in "Henry & June" as you might remember). I thought the kiss itself would be the only real reference to lesbianism in this movie, anything else would be subtext at best. I was very wrong. I can't believe what a frank potrayal of lesbianism this is for a movie made in 1931, and what a liberal country Germany must have been at this time. It's difficult to imagine that just two years after this movie was made, Adolf Hitler took power.
So what's there besides the kiss? First of all, I * think* there's a second kiss when the girls are dancing. Manuela's best friend also seems to have a crush on her. The subtitles in the screen captures finally shows that the dialogue is pretty open about how much they desire each other.
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