The Rabbit Is Me (Das Kanichen bin ich)
Directed by Kurt Maetzig
Written by Manfred Bieler and Kurt Maetzig from Bieler’s novel
1965/East Germany
Deutsch Film
First viewing/Netflix rental
[box] “You see the mistakes of one system—the surveillance—and the mistakes of the other—the inequality—but there’s nothing you could have done in the one and nothing you can do now about the other. She laughs wryly. “And the clearer you see that, the worse you feel.” ― Anna Funder, Stasiland: Stories from Behind the Berlin Wall[/box]
During a brief period of thawing, this examination of corruption was produced in East Germany. Well-made and acted film was then banned on release.
Teenager Maria Morzek is on a mission to get her brother freed on parole from his imprisonment for “subversive behavior”. She refused to denounce her brother in school, was rejected by university, and now works as a waitress, a job in which she is constantly harrassed. Coincidentally or not, she meets and is wooed by the married judge who sentenced her brother.
Story follows their relationship, Maria’s continuous efforts to get the judge to help her brother, and her coming of age.
I enjoyed this one. For one thing, the young leading lady is excellent. The dynamics of the relationship were fascinating.
No subtitles
