Gudrun, a member of The Red Army Faction, was found dead in her prison cell in Stammheim in 1977.

In the film, von Trotta depicts the two sisters Juliane (Christine) and Marianne (Gudrun) through their friendship and journey to understanding each other.

Marianne and Juliane was von Trotta's third film and solidified her position as a director of the New German Cinema.

Juliane works as a feminist journalist campaigning for a woman's right to abortion while Marianne commits herself to a violent revolutionary terrorist group.

Her husband arrives at Juliane's house and states that she must take Jan (their son) because he has to leave the country for work.

Juliane is not supportive of her sister's choices because she feels that they are damaging to the women's movement and informs the husband that she does not have time to care for the child.

Marianne meets with Juliane to discuss her political views with her sister and urge her to join the movement.

Juliane informs her of her husband's suicide and of her intention to find a foster home for Jan. Marianne asks her sister to watch over Jan but Juliane replies "You would have me take on the life that you chose to leave", basically stating "so what's not good enough for you is good enough for me".

On one occasion, Marianne wakes her and her long-term boyfriend up at 3 a.m., makes coffee for two of her comrades and goes through Juliane's clothes for anything she might like.

When she arrives she is searched and, after being left in the waiting room, the guard returns and informs her that Marianne refuses to see her.

Though she was not as highly recognized as her male counterparts, the New German Cinema and the study of the more human side of contemporary political issues (like terrorism in this case) became her focus.

Charlotte Delorme, a critic, stated: "If Marianne and Juliane were really what it claims to be it would not have gotten any support, distribution, and exhibition."