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Movie Info & Details
Release Year1979
Runtime1h 35m
LanguageGerman
CertificationNR
GenresDrama
Votes9
DirectorMargarethe von Trotta
WritersWolfgang Bächler, Margarethe von Trotta, Luisa Francia
TypeFeature Film
Rating5.7 out of 10
Cast8 credited
Also Known AsSisters, or The Balance of Happiness
About Sisters, or The Balance of Happiness
Sisters Maria and Anna live together. Maria is a most proficient executive secretary, encouraging Anna to finish her studies and start a career. Anna broods, threatens to quit university, takes pills, and keeps a diary. When Maria's relationship with Maurice, the son of her boss, starts to lead to love, Anna takes a selfish and drastic step that plummets Maria into solitude. No longer able to connect with Maurice, Maria does establish a relationship with Miriam, a typist at her office who becomes a surrogate younger sister. But Maria is intrusive as well as helpful. Can this or any relationship work out for this talented woman whose past seems to choke her soul?
Directed by Margarethe von Trotta, Sisters, or The Balance of Happiness leans on a strong ensemble — Jutta Lampe, Gudrun Gabriel, Konstantin Wecker — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.
The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about drama titles of 1979.
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