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Censorship

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Sex, Violence and Censorship, Case Study:
“THE RABBIT IS ME” - KURT MAETZIG

Kurt Maetzig is one of the key characters in the film history of the GDR; having produced films for the DEFA (‘Deutsche Film Aktiengesellschaft’ - the public-owned film studio in East Germany) well into his late years, and received several awards and prizes. 1
This essay will attempt to focus on the rather ‘darker’ chapter in Kurt Maetzig’s career, with the ban of his film "The rabbit is me" by GDR officials, which marked the end of his film career. His following films were rather insignificant. Further, I will aim to explain the reasons and the significance of this action.

Kurt was born on the 25th of January 1911 in Berlin-Charlottenburg, the child of Robert and Marie Maetzig. During the First World War, Maetzig lived with his grandmother in Hamburg, where he also began his school career. After graduating in 1930 he enrolled at the TU Munich to study chemistry, engineering, economics and business administration; and in addition he later attended several lectures at the Sorbonne in Paris. 1 By then his interest for films was already evolving.

However, when the National Socialist government came to power, Kurt Maetzig, whose mother was Jewish, was classified as a "half Jew", which inevitably resulted in a prohibition to work in the film industry. 2 Further, he had to live under constant fear of arrest. Following the Nuremberg race laws, his father, who couldn’t stand the pressure, divorced his Jewish wife; and Maetzig stayed under his mother’s custody. In 1941, she managed to escape the deportations of Jews, but she committed suicide shortly after. Maetzig on the other hand managed to stall his deportation date due to his essential participation in governmental research projects. 2

In 1944 Kurt Maetzig made the life threatening decision to join the then illegal Communist Party. In the year 1946, Maetzig became one the four founders of the DEFA, subsequently holding the position of the organisation’s artistic director. 3
The movie "Marriage in the Shadows", which simultaneously premiered in all four sectors on the 10th of March 1947, was not only the first movie produced and directed by Kurt Maetzig, but with over 10 million viewers it became one of the most successful films of those years. 1 The storyline focuses on the bitter fate of the actor Joachim Gottschalk and his Jewish wife in the era of National Socialism - for Maetzig a familiar and personal tale, since he never forgave his father for deserting him and his mother. 2

Other films quickly followed, and a total of 20 films were produced in the years of the GDR. In the following years, Kurt held several leading positions and attained many achievements. Examples include holding the post of rector at the German Academy of Film Arts in Potsdam Babelsberg (founded in 1954) for 10 years, his appointment as a professor of film direction and his position as president at the annual GDR’s National film festival. 4
The big turning point in Maetzig’s career came with the 11th Plenum of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party. Here, his film "The Rabbit Is Me" was condemned as subversive and banned, and he was branded a counter-revolutionary artist. 4
After the banning of his film Maetzig produced only a few more movies and focused more on his advisory and teaching activities. In 1977 he ended his work at the DEFA. 3 Today Kurt Maetzig lives in Mecklenburg. He has married four times and has three children. 3

The film "The Rabbit is me" was based on a novel by Manfred Bieler. The novel "Maria Morzeck or the Rabbit Is Me", was banned by the GDR censorship and was therefore never published in East Germany. 1
Kurt Maetzig directed the movie, and the script was written together with the author Manfred Bieler. Behind the production was the Studio for Feature Films DEFA. The movie is in black and white, and has a length of 110 minutes. Due to the ban imposed, the movie premiered only 23 years after its completion in 1966. The premiere took place on the 13th December 1989 just shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall. 4

The film "The Rabbit Is Me" begins with a flashback. The first part of the movie takes place before the wall was built, the second part after. The student Maria Morzeck lives with her brother and her aunt Hetty after the death of her parents. One day she receives the news that her brother Dieter has been arrested. She and her aunt are both excluded from the court proceedings, and simply receive notice that Dieter has been convicted for "seditious incitement" and has been sentenced to three years in prison. 5
After leaving school, Maria is denied a university place due to her insistent questioning over the whereabouts and the reasons for the arrest and conviction of her brother. Consequently Maria is forced to finds a job as a waitress in an East Berlin saloon, The "Old Bavaria". Nevertheless, the lives of Maria and Aunt Hetty revolve around the jailed brother and the hope for a clemency petition. By chance, Maria meets the judge Paul Deister, who sentenced her brother. Not knowing of his involvement in the case, she falls in love with him and initiates an affair with the married man. 5
As the affair progresses, Maria tries to talk about her brother Dieter and thus learns the unthinkable: Deister was the mastermind behind Dieter’s criminal prosecution; having fabricated the charges in order to advance his career and doubled the penalty sought by Dieter’s prosecutor riding on the widespread fear of a counter-revolution.
Once Maria finds this out, she leaves him. However, after the paroling of her brother, Maria is confronted with the next problem: Dieter, who learns about his sister’s affair with Deister, misunderstands her intentions and beats her. Following this, Maria moves out and eventually begins her university degree. 5

According to the party on the 11th Plenum, it was not the political controversy of the film which caused the banning of the film "The Rabbit Is Me", but rather the film’s pornographic features and "sceptic tendencies", among other things. 4 But many of these reasons seem only to serve as an excuse, and so the question arises: what were the real reasons behind the banning of the film "The Rabbit Is Me"?
Maetzig’s film criticizes the legal system of the GDR and pleads for a new sense of justice. The protagonist Paul Deister holds a high office as a judge, and is thus an important man in the Party (Maria calls him a "big shot"). And it is precisely this "big shot" which represents the party in this film, and comes across as an "unethical careerist". He clearly takes the part of the negative protagonist, but his cruelty is hidden behind his facade as a principled party member. 6
Deister is an opportunist, who adapts to the zeitgeist of the party. He does nothing else other than what the party demands from him. He sentenced Maria’s brother Dieter for something he did not do. He designed a prosecution, calling him "counter-revolutionary" devoid of any basis to make Dieter look like a criminal, who must be condemned. He even goes beyond the penalty sought by the prosecutor.
Deister wants to distinguish himself from the others in this way as a hard-liner, which means that the party supports this behaviour, or even requests it.
In addition, Maria and her Aunt are excluded from the trial, and throughout the film Maria is unaware of the crime, her brother committed. The processes of justice in the film are strongly reminiscent of the arbitrary justice of the Third Reich, which was probably hardly missed by the SED vanguard (Socialist Unity Party of Germany). Even the allocation of university places is shown as subject to arbitrariness in this film. Maria doesn’t get the desired place of study, although she possesses the necessary qualifications.

Maetzig is criticizing an, in his opinion, out-dated policy. He denies any kind of party democracy. However, he promptly delivers a counterexample: the mayor of Maria’s little town. Maetzig is using him as his mouthpiece and as a representative of a new sense of justice ("An innocent man in prison is more dangerous for me than a suspect, who walks around freely.") Yet he is a man of the party. 6
While Deister is discredited by careerism, a lack of conscience and moral self-destruction, the mayor stands for democracy and justice. The film describes the events from the perspective of Maria Morzeck. Hence the audience can identify with her. Initially she is a bit naive and evolves over the course of the movie. Deister, however, is not rehabilitated; he does not undergo any positive development. 5
It may have been problematic for the SED officials that it is Maria who attracts the sympathy of the spectators. Deister, who is the "man of the party", on the other hand, is shown so clearly in a negative light. As a result the viewer frequently asks himself or herself why the friendly, open and direct Maria Morzeck initially falls in love with this man, in whom no sympathetic traits can be found. Although Maria is punished for her disobedience through the withdrawal of her study place at first, she develops and ultimately gets confirmed in her behaviour. Another reason for the ban could be that the Maetzig film can be seen as a call to be critical and vigilant at all times. 6

The prohibition of the 11th Plenum applied to all democratic impulses in the country. The SED sought to show how to deal with any non-compliant art. The edited movie has in no sense any "pornographic" features, as the leaders of the 11th Plenum were claiming. But the movie is critical of the socialist system and its leadership. Maetzig denounces abuses, but he also attempted to identify possible solutions in his movie. He clearly criticized the judge Paul Deister, and therefore the justice system of the GDR, but by reference to the righteous mayor of the village, the party is not just represented negatively. 5

The films of the GDR should therefore not only be appreciated as aesthetic products but also as a means to illustrate the social situation of the GDR. The film "The Rabbit Is Me" has a certain political significance. The mere fact that after the original book by Manfred Bieler had been banned, the permission for the filming of the movie was given, shows the development that probably occurred in the GDR of the early 1960's. The ban of the film, however, proved the limits of this modernization. 2
The GDR government sent a strong message to its artists with this ban: they would not fare well under socialism as long as they dared to criticize the system. They wanted unconditional support, not active, critical cooperation. 1

Bibliography:

4 Dieckmann C. (2011) Als die Kaninchen noch frei waren, Kurt Maetzig zum 100. Geburtstag, Zeit online Archiv, Nr. 6, Available at: http://www.zeit.de/2011/06/Maetzig-Gysi (Online)

1 Jäger M. (1994) Kultur und Politikinder DDR 1945-1990, Köln /German

3 Kurt Maetzig (2001) Biographie, Available at: http://www.kurt-maetzig.de/indexn.html (Online)

5 Kuschek C. (2008) Kurt Meatzig: “Das Kaninchen bin ich”- eine Filmanalyse, Norderstedt /German

2 MDR (2012) Damals Im Osten: Mitteldeuschland 1945 bis heute, Vom Propagandisten zum Provokateur, Available at: http://www.mdr.de/damals/archiv/artikel105332.html (Online)

6 Volk S. (2000) Skandalfilme: Cineastische Aufreger gestern und heute Marburg /German

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