The Right to Love

The Right to Love 1930

1

With a script co-written by Weimar-era sexologist Magnus Hirschfeld, this enlightened drama deals with WWI soldiers who have become impotent due to wounds but still want to marry.

1930

Crucified Girl

Crucified Girl 1929

7.00

The young student Mary spends the beginning of her holiday with boat trips, visits to her wealthy groom, and gardening. In fast-paced, rhythmic cuts, Louise and Jakob Fleck draw their audience into a carefree, urban romantic comedy. With a single scene, however, it turns into a melodrama about sexual violence, shame and perpetrator-victim reversal.

1929

Once I Loved a Girl in Vienna

Once I Loved a Girl in Vienna 1931

1

A musical about love that spans the period before and after the Great War in the Austro-Hungarian empire.

1931

Frauenarzt Dr. Schäfer

Frauenarzt Dr. Schäfer 1928

1

The respected gynecologist Prof. Hausen is averse to performing abortions. In contrast, his up-and-coming colleague Dr. Schäfer sees abortion as a means of helping women in need and openly advocates an amendment of the law. The professor’s convictions are shaken when misfortune befalls his own family. Louise Fleck presents her drama about the untimeliness of restrictive abortion legislation against the backdrop of modern urban reality. Seriousness, however, is preserved, because topics such as unwanted pregnancy, sexual violence, and the consequences of improperly performed abortions are not only addressed through minor characters, but also placed at the center of the cinematic narrative. (Anna Dobringer)

1928

The Volga Girl

The Volga Girl 1930

1

A love story between a simple peasant girl (Holt) and a dashing young officer (Sym), who however doesn't see more in her than a temporary affair.

1930

The Warsaw Citadel

The Warsaw Citadel 1930

1

In the 19th century, Polish patriots rise up in Warsaw against domination by the Czar of Russia.

1930

The Tsarevich

The Tsarevich 1929

1

Based on the play and subsequent operetta of the same name.

1929

Spring Awakening

Spring Awakening 1929

1

Moritz Stiefel faces expulsion due to poor marks. When he is caught with an essay titled “Shame and Lust”, he is indeed kicked out – instead of classmate Melchior Gabor, who actually penned it. Gabor was drawing on his experiences with neighbourhood girl Wendla. Then Wendla turns up pregnant. Stiefel descends into despair ... Exploitation between Eros and Thanatos in this “sexual tragedy of youth” based on Frank Wedekind’s play. Setting the film in the 1920s provided a chance to explore “modern” youth culture, complete with cigarettes, jazz music, the gramophone, and a goodly bit of alcohol. Richard Oswald, a master of films of manners and young sex beginning in the 1910s, fully explores the temptations of the youthful body, even early childhood flirtatiousness. At the same time, with his target audience in mind, the film laments the bigotry and double standards of the adult world.

1929

The Orlov

The Orlov 1927

1

Based on the operetta of the same name.

1927