Die bleierne Zeit (Motion picture)

Marianne and Juliane (German: Die bleierne Zeit; lit. "The Leaden Time" or "Leaden Times", referring to the 1950s in West Germany), also called The German Sisters in the United Kingdom, is a 1981 West German film directed by Margarethe von Trotta. The screenplay is a fictionalized account of the true lives of Christiane and Gudrun Ensslin (1940–1977). The original German title refers to the authoritarian "Leaden Time" of the 1950s, which von Trotta suggests led to the sisters' rebelliousness, and ultimately to Gudrun's later role as a leading member of the Red Army Faction. In the film, von Trotta depicts the two sisters Juliane (Christiane) and Marianne (Gudrun) through their friendship and journey to understanding each other. Marianne and Juliane was von Trotta's third film and solidified her position as a director of the New German Cinema. Marianne and Juliane also marked the first time that von Trotta worked with Barbara Sukowa. They would go on to work on six more films together.