'Murderer's House' - University of Victoria

Chapter 5: Conclusion
Mother’s Voicelessness / Daughter’s Voice
The first close-up shot of Lene in Deutschland, bleiche Mutter is accompanied by
the narrator‟s voice-over address: “Meine Mutter. Ich habe schweigen gelernt, sagtest
du. Von dir habe ich sprechen gelernt. Muttersprache” (Sanders-Brahms, Film-
Erzählung 112). 90 On a concrete level, this comment describes the genesis of the
narrator‟s language, of her ability to speak. However, on a more figurative level, it can
be understood in terms of the creation of the film by Sanders-Brahms herself.
The film depicts Lene as a woman who is silenced by cultural, historical and
personal forces. In Sanders-Brahms‟ narrative, Lene passes from silence to speech and
then returns to silence (Kosta 144). The first sequence depicting Lene, shows her
speechlessly struggling to fend off an attacking German shepherd that an SA man has set
on her. Watching her from their boat, her future husband Hans comments: “Sie hat nicht
geschrien” (Sanders-Brahms, Film-Erzählung 28). 91 To this the Nazi Ulrich answers
admiringly: “Eine deutsche Frau. Eine richtige deutsche Frau” (Sanders-Brahms, Film-
Erzählung 28). 92 Lene‟s culture has taught her that women should deal with anger and
pain by keeping it to themselves, by „suffering in silence.‟ In this sequence, as in the rest
of the film, silence becomes a sign of Lene‟s suffering under patriarchy. During the war
years, Lene comes to speech when she is forced out of her home when it is destroyed in a
bombing raid, and required to use her voice in order to ensure the survival of herself and
her daughter. As Kaes explains: “When her husband departs, Lene learns to speak for
90
“My mother. I learned to be silent, you said. From you I learned to speak. Mother tongue” (Sanders-
Brahms, Film-Erzählung 112).
91
“She didn‟t scream” (Sanders-Brahms, Film-Erzählung 28).
92
“A German woman. A real German woman” (Sanders-Brahms, Film-Erzählung 28).
124