Different from you and me (§ 175)

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Movie
German title Different from you and me
(§ 175)
Original title The third gender
Unlike you and me Logo.svg
Country of production Federal Republic of Germany
original language German
Publishing year 1957
length 91 minutes
Age rating FSK 18
Rod
Director Veit Harlan
script Felix Lützkendorf
Scientific advice: Hans Giese
production Arca-Filmproduktion GmbH ( Gero Wecker )
music Erwin Halletz
Oskar Sala
camera Kurt Grigoleit
cut Walter Wischniewsky
occupation

Unlike you and me (§ 175) , (reference title: The third gender ) is a West German film from 1957 by Veit Harlan . The main roles are played by Paula Wessely , Paul Dahlke , Hans Nielsen , Ingrid Stenn and Christian Wolff . Contrary to what the original title suggests, the film does not deal with the topic of gender identity , but with homosexuality .

Felix Lützkendorf's script goes back to an idea by Robert Pilchowski .

action

The 17-year-old high school student Klaus Teichmann has a close relationship with his school friend Manfred and through him gets into homosexual circles around the antique dealer Dr. Boris Winkler, in whose house young men are introduced to electronic music and modern art. The Teichmann parents are concerned about their son's homosexual tendencies, and Teichmann's father files a complaint against Dr. Winkler. Since there is nothing against him and no immoral offense can be proven, the proceedings are discontinued.

Mother Teichmann tries to get her son back on track with the help of the pretty house daughter Gerda. In fact, Klaus falls in love with Gerda. The now neglected Manfred observes the two and tells everything to Dr. Winkler, who is now reporting Mother Teichmann for coupling . Since the court showed a lot of understanding for the mother's motives, she was sentenced to six months' probation instead of prison.

Production and Background

The shooting in the Arca film studio in Berlin lasted from May 8th to June 3rd, 1957. In addition to the title The Third Sex, there was another working title for the film There You Will Be Guilty And You Don't Know It . The film construction was the responsibility of Gabriel Pellon and Horst Griese. Michael Marszalek and Brigitte Dittner were responsible for the still photos . According to the film opening credits, the specialist advice was provided by the Institute for Sex Research in Frankfurt am Main.

Veit Harlan , director of the anti-Semitic propaganda film Jud Süss from 1940, made a film in 1957 that dealt with Section 175 , which was considerably stricter during National Socialism and made homosexual activity by men a criminal offense. The film was based on a screenplay by Felix Lützkendorf entitled Parents Accuse , which was supposed to warn of the supposed dangers of homosexuality. The medical doctor and sex researcher Hans Giese acted as scientific advisor .

In a letter to the production company Arca-Film, Harlan pleaded for a more differentiated approach: “I miss the fact that there are two types of homosexuals in the script - namely those who have committed a crime against nature and those who take action against nature . The latter do so either out of innate immorality or for material reasons or out of curse-worthy weakness. The former, on the other hand, deserve all our condolences. The film must not condemn or persecute these homosexuals, who we have to look at tragically if we want to be generous people, for bourgeois motives. We are only allowed to pursue them in the sense that they seduce young people whose nature is basically okay. "

Original version logo

The FSK did not release the film, which was initially submitted under the title The Third Sex , in West Germany for the time being. This was justified by the fact that the moral feelings of the people condemn homosexuality and its dangers are to be made clear, while the film at hand encourages understanding for homosexuals. Such a film can only be welcomed by homosexuals, while "all sections of the population who still have a feeling for morality and law (and this is the vast majority of the people) are hit hardest in their feelings."

Later, a modified version, approved by the FSK for ages 18 and over, with scenes that were partly re-shot and partly dubbed, was shown in the cinemas, which was generally perceived as anti-homosexual. The new version was called Different from you and me (§ 175) . The art dealer, who escaped to Italy in the original version, has now been arrested at the Zoo train station. The mother, who was originally sentenced to prison, is now only given probation. A conversation between the art dealer and a gay lawyer and a scene in which he meets with foreign friends were omitted in order not to give the impression that homosexuals are already in important social positions. In Austria the film ran unchanged under the old working title The Third Sex .

The German theatrical release of the scandal film was accompanied by protests and demonstrations in 1957. Harlan was not only accused of presenting an anti-homosexual smear strip, but also of “defaming modern art and music as degenerate. With the second allegation in particular, the critics themselves were often not free of homophobic undertones, if they weren't bothered by the fact that the homosexuals were portrayed negatively in the film, but rather by the fact that modern art was associated with homosexuality. "

publication

The film premiered in Vienna on August 29, 1957 under the title The Third Sex in several cinemas. In Germany it was shown for the first time on October 31, 1957 in the Gloria-Palast in Stuttgart under the title Anders als du und ich (§ 175) . On November 1, 1957, the US-American feature film Anders than the others premiered in Germany, which deals with the same basic topic in coded form: A possibly homosexual boy finds his way back on the "right" path through intercourse with a female.

First of all, the Munich Film Museum announced a double DVD ( Edition Filmmuseum 05) that should contain both cut versions. Nevertheless, in December 2006 only a single DVD was released, which only contains the modified version Anders als du und ich (§ 175) in full length. The alternative scenes from The Third Sex are contrasted in the bonus material with the correspondingly changed sequences from Different from you and me (§ 175) , thus enabling a comparison. The edition also contains a DVD-ROM section with documents on the creation of the newly edited version. The complete version The Third Sex remains unpublished so far.

Reviews

In the film service it was read: “The film not only discriminates against homosexuals, but also defames abstract art in an absurd way of thinking. A late by-product of fascist sentiments. "

The Heyne Film Lexicon stated: “Veit Harlan, Hitler's general game manager, tells the story of a gay bank director's boy who is re-educated by his parents to become a 'normal citizen'. An infamous, fascistic and amateurishly staged film. "

The lexicon of international films spoke of a "late post-war film by Goebbels protégé Veit Harlan, who had placed himself in the service of the National Socialists with films such as 'Jud Suess' , ' Opfergang ' or ' Kolberg ' ." , he “thematizes and discriminates against homosexuality at the same time”. The decisive factor for the fact that the film was initially only allowed to be shown abroad is not "the homophobic attitude, but the lack of positive drawing of the protagonist's petty-bourgeois parents, which leads to the overestimation of homosexuality" (FSK reasoning). "Only after Harlan removed a plea against § 175, had dialogues dubbed and the film complied with German jurisdiction in a re-shot scene, was it released for German cinemas. The film by no means sees homosexuality as a positive alternative to life; it also defames abstract painting and atonal music, which it depicts as the precipitate of such a 'lifestyle'. "

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Quote from Stefan Volk: Scandal films. Cinematic excitement yesterday and today. Marburg 2011, ISBN 978-3-89472-562-4 , pp. 118f.
  2. ↑ Quotation from FB Habel: Zerschnitte Films. Censorship in the cinema. Kiepenheuer, Leipzig 2003, ISBN 3-378-01069-X , p. 22.
  3. ↑ Stefan Volk: Scandal Films. Cinematic excitement yesterday and today. Marburg 2011, ISBN 978-3-89472-562-4 , p. 116.
  4. ^ The Third Sex New Film Program No. 454 (Cover picture: Paula Wessely, Christian Wolff, Friedrich Joloff)
  5. ↑ Unlike you and me Edition Filmmuseum 05 at edition-filmmuseum.com
  6. ↑ Different from you and me. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed April 28, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used