"Sisters, or the Balance of Happiness" (1979) is an intricate examination of the relationship between a destructive, confused Hamburg secretary and her two "sisters"--one by birth and one whom she "adopts"; "Marianne and Julianne/The German Sisters" (1981) is a compelling study of terrorism, viewed via the relationship between a Baader Meinhof activist and her journalist sister (the two are based on the real-life characters, Gudrun and Christiane Ensslin). "Rosa Luxemburg" is an accomplished, multi-leveled biography of the early 20th-century radical.
Von Trotta's "The Promise" (1995) was an episodic drama about a pair of lovers separated and reunited against major events in European history (the erection of the Berlin Wall, the 1968 Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia). While it was a departure for the director, most critics felt it was a qualified success.