'Murderer's House' - University of Victoria
'Murderer's House' - University of Victoria
'Murderer's House' - University of Victoria
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Contrastingly, in the middle and last sections <strong>of</strong> Deutschland, bleiche Mutter, the<br />
film mirrors “Der Räuberbräutigam” in that the domestic realm comes to represent the<br />
sphere <strong>of</strong> women‟s oppression and discontent. Midway through the film, Lene and<br />
Anna‟s home is reduced to a pile <strong>of</strong> rubble in an Allied bombing raid. Lene identifies the<br />
pile <strong>of</strong> rubble that was the former family home and Lene calmly assesses the situation<br />
saying, “Hier war unser Haus” (Sanders-Brahms, Film-Erzählung 58). 79 When she finds<br />
a panel <strong>of</strong> mirror protruding from the rubble she looks in it. Lene assesses her changed<br />
identity saying to herself, “Und das war ich mal” (Sanders-Brahms, Film-Erzählung<br />
58). 80 This is the second time the mirror appears in the film and the unity promised by<br />
the first image has long been disrupted by Hans‟ absence, and the family home, the<br />
physical locus symbolizing that togetherness, has been destroyed (McCormick, Politics<br />
190). While forced outside <strong>of</strong> her home by circumstances beyond her control, Lene is at<br />
the same time freed from the confining constraints <strong>of</strong> an established order and able to<br />
create a new identity. Although she has nowhere to live and has lost almost everything<br />
she possesses, she experiences a sense <strong>of</strong> liberation. This joyful feeling <strong>of</strong> freedom is<br />
underscored by the director‟s voice-over address to Lene, “Nach dem Ende der<br />
Wohnstuben wurdest du fidel. Da ging‟s uns erst richtig gut, als alles hin war” (Sanders-<br />
Brahms, Film-Erzählung 113). 81<br />
The destruction <strong>of</strong> the domestic sphere signifies that Lene is no longer chained to<br />
those duties and expectation that define not only her roles as a wife and as a mother, but<br />
also her very identity (Cook 115-16). Lene‟s story in this middle section <strong>of</strong> the film<br />
79 “Here was our house” (Sanders-Brahms, Film-Erzählung 58).<br />
80 “And that was once me” (Sanders-Brahms, Film-Erzählung 58).<br />
81 “After the end <strong>of</strong> the living rooms you became merry. That‟s when things first started to go really well<br />
for us, when everything was gone” (Sanders-Brahms, Film-Erzählung 113).<br />
110