Sisters, or the Balance of Happiness
Schwestern, oder die Balance des glücks
Directed by Margarethe von Trotta
Screenplay by Margarethe von Trotta with additions by Luisa Francis, Martje Grohmann and Winifred Henning
Executive producer: Eberhard Junkersdorf
Produced by Bisokop Film, Munich
Genre: Drama
Language: German, with English subtitles
Released by Cinema 5
Not Rated, Running time 92 minutes
Originally released in German in 1979, Sisters is the work of celebrated Berlin-born director Margarethe von Trotta. The movie is a dark and
eerie look at the lives of two sisters, Maria and Anna. Maria is the dominating older sister, supporting Anna's studies in a very ambivalent manner.
One minute Maria is encouraging towards Anna, the next, resentful to the point of emotional manipulation. One of the most obvious examples if when Maria comes home after
a long day of work, at first joyously greeting her sister and emphasizing her need to devote all of her time towards studying for her upcoming exams, only to chastise her less than a minute later for not taking out the garbage. Then, when Anna offers to, Maria
again switches back into loving/caring mode, and does the chore herself. Maria so desperately needs Anna to need her, but then cruelly flaunts that power over her, something which Anna seems to have figured out but does nothing to stop.
However, Anna is as symbiotically connected to head games as her sister. While she wishes Maria would not be so demanding and let her live her own life, as soon as Maria herself finds a close friend (Miriam) and a possible lover (Maurice) Anna cannot stand no longer being number one.
Von Trotta's depiction of this relationship highlights the pathological relationship, which at times seems almost incestuous. Konstantin Wecker's musical score underlies the action, moody and full of anticipation. Wecker uses instrumentation best-known during his
Global Musikon days, mostly relying on piano and cello.
Wecker himself has a role in this film. While not a central character, he adds a colorful sub-plot to the film in the role of Robert, the head programmer at Maria's office who longs for
a full-time career in music. This role is definitely not a stretch for Wecker's acting abilities and, in fact, seems tailor-made -- after all, his own background includes a series of "normal" day jobs.
It's the classical situation of art imitating life. When asked by his Miriam (upon whom Maria transfers her attention after Anna's suicide) why he does not dare to try the American music market, his response is simply that
he is only able to sing what is meaningful to him, his own texts, and he can only do that in German. In the end he quits his job and, in a very poignant scene between him and his boss, explains why he has to pursue his music in order to be true to himself.
As for Maria, she also finds truth after driving Miriam away and breaking off the relationship with Maurice. She realizes how destructive the dependency between herself and Anna was to each of them, and vows to rely only on herself. And that is when the film emerges from darkness into the
hopeful light of self-realization and independence.
| Cast: | Credits: |
| Jutta Lampe | Producer: |
| Maria | Eberhard Junkersdorf |
| Gudrun Gabriel | Director: |
| Anna | Margarethe von Trotta |
| Jessica Frueh | Writer: |
| Miriam | Margarethe von Trotta, Martje Grohmann, Lusia Francia* |
| Konstantin Wecker | Cinematographer: |
| Robert | Franz Raht, Thomas Schwan |
| Rainer Delventhal | Editor: |
| Maurice | Annette Dorn |
| Agnes Fink | Music Composer: |
| Mother | Konstantin Wecker |
| Heinz Bennent | Art Director: |
| Muenzinger | Winifred Hennig |
| Günther Schütz | Set Decorator: |
| Professor | Winifred Hennig |
| Ilse Bahrs | Costume Design: |
| Blind Woman | Ingrid Zore |
| Barbara Sauerbaum |
| Maria as a Child |
| Marie-Helene Diekmann |
| Anna as a child |
| Liselotte Arnold |
| Frau Eder |
| Editha Horn |
| Sister of Blind Woman |
| Edith Garten |
| Language Teacher |
| Kathie Thomsen |
| Flutist |
| Volker Schwab |
| Robert's Colleague |
| Dionysos Kawathas |
| Student |
*Based on extracts from Traumprotokolle by Wolfgang Bachler.