The Rabbit Is Me

Boasting nouvelle vague-inspired cinematography, The Rabbit Is Me dresses its political message in the garb of melodrama. Based on the novel by Manfred Bieler and set in East Germany, circa 1961-62, Kurt Maetzig's “decadent and nihilistic” 1965 film—banned in the German Democratic Republic (GDR)—wasn't released until 1990. The heroine of The Rabbit Is Me is East Berlin-based Maria Morzeck (Angelika Waller), who studies by day and waitresses at night. Raised by her Aunt Hete (Ilse Voigt), Maria plans to become a Russian translator. After her brother Dieter (Wolfgang Winkler) is unjustly jailed for “subversive activities,” the 19-year-old Maria meets a middle-aged man named Paul Deister (Alfred Müller) for whom she feels some attraction (the scene in which he flirts with her while munching on a bratwurst is particularly amusing). When Maria discovers that Deister is the judge who put Dieter away, she yields to his advances in order to try to help her brother. Although Maetzig offers pointed criticism of East German justice under Communist rule, he withholds judgment of his central characters: both the sexually-active young Maria and the philandering Deister. DVD extras include a 1999 interview with Maetzig, a 1993 interview with former GDR Minister of Culture Hans Bentzien, and more on banned DEFA films. Highly recommended, especially for fans of the recent GDR-related Oscar-winning film The Lives of Others. Editor's Choice. [Note: also newly available on DVD from the DEFA library is the 1962 film The Second Track.] (K. Fennessy)