Das Kaninchen bin ich (The Rabbit is Me)

1965, b/w, 118 min. Feature
Dir.: Kurt Maetzig
Script: Manfred Bieler
Camera: Erich Gusko
Music: Gerhard Rosenfeld, Reiner Bredemeyer
Cast: Angelika Waller, Alfred Müller, Ilse Voigt, Wolfgang Winkler
35mm, English subtitles - renting information
16mm, English subtitles - renting information
VHS-NTSC, English subtitles:

Synopsis:

The story of Maria Morzeck who grew up in East Berlin. She attends school and works part time as a waitress in a local bar to make ends meet. Maria is a "working-class child" who is not allowed to study because her brother is in prison. The charge against him is very obscure: "agitation to threaten the security of the State." Maria falls in love with the much older and married Paul Deister. She is very happy in her new relationship, even after she realizes he is the judge who sentenced her brother to the lengthy prison sentence. After spending months in Paul's summer home, Maria begins to question the sentence passed on her brother by Paul. After realizing Paul is an opportunist, she leaves him despite her love for him. A sardonic portrayal of the German Democratic Republic's judicial system and its social implications. For 24 years it was a banned film. After its initial presentation in 1989, critics hailed The Rabbit is me as one of the most important and courageous works ever filmed by DEFA.