Mädchen in Uniform

Filmed in pre-National Socialist Germany when the economy was at a true low. The girls at this Catholic boarding school are slight, pale, hungry creatures -for food and comfort. Daughters of soldiers, they are taught discipline and deprivation, not luxury. The girls, however, have more personality and strength of character than those in the majority of movies produced nowadays. Manuela is a highly emotional 14 year old 'new girl' who has no mother. She, like the rest of her classmates, yearns for the attention of the fair and beautiful Fraulein von Burnberg. Ilse is the school trouble-maker, leader, and clown. Witty and outspoken, she repeatedly entertains the other girls, binding them together in secret comradery against their oppressive elders. At an after-play function Manuela is the only student who can tolerate the taste of the punch given to them as a reward. Her friends pass their cups on to her and she soon gets herself quite drunk. In a semi-conscious state she announces her feelings for the popular Fraulein von Burnberg to the entire school along with the infuriated Headmistress. These girls are not all lesbians, they are merely children starved of human contact and love. As a result they throw their hearts at the open mind and kind heart of Frau von Burnberg. I found it surprising and beautiful how loyal the girls were to each other. There is very little rivalry or conflict among the students, a vast contrast to the modern representation of teens. Even when Manuela embarrasses herself horribly in front of the school, her classmates stick by her without hesitation. That's cool.