642. Die Ehe der Maria Braun/The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979)

Running Time: 120 minutes
Directed By: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Written By: Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Pea Frohlich, Peter Marthesheimer
Main Cast: Hanna Schygulla, Klaus Lowitsch, George Byrd, Ivan Desny, Gisela Uhlen
Click here to view the trailer

FASSBINDER WEEK: PART 4 of 4

Today was mine and my wife's Sunday. As we prepare to head back to work tomorrow, relaxation was the word of the day and it was nice to chill out on the bed and pop in a DVD. The DVD just so happened to be the conclusion to Fassbinder Week - The Marriage of Maria Braun - and while I wish it had been better, it was still a relaxing afternoon. Read on...

The film opens by establishing two points, right off the bat: 1) Maria (Schygulla) - our main character -  has JUST married Hermann Braun (Lowitsch) and 2) World War II is ON! The film, like most of Fassbinder's stories, is set in Germany and after those principal facts are cemented and following the opening credits, we learn that Maria and Hermann only got about two days out of their nuptials before Hermann was whisked off to war. During war, Hermann goes missing and Maria dedicates her life to wearing a sandwich board bearing his picture, accompanied by the words "have you seen Hermann Braun?". When the husband of a friend returns from war, he brings news that Hermann was killed in action, thus prompting Maria to move on with her life despite her grief. She goes to see a man about a job and lands one as a "hostess" in a bar frequented by American soldiers. I say "hostess" with the quotations, because it seems that without using the exact words, Maria has become a prostitute. She infatuates an African American soldier named Bill (Byrd) and the two begin a fling: him teaching her English and her teaching him anatomy - if you get my drift. During an afternoon romp, the two are walked in on by none other than Hermann and when the returning soldier strikes her down, Bill attacks him. Happy to see her long lost hubby come home, Maria acts quickly, striking Bill in the head and killing him. Maria stands trial, but during the proceedings, Hermann gives himself up as the man who killed Bill and is sentenced to a prison term. While incarcerated, Maria then strikes up a relationship with a successful French businessman named Oswald (Desny) - becoming both his professional assistant and his mistress. The Frenchman comes to fall in love with Maria, but Maria vows to wait for Hermann and that she could never marry any other man. Over time, Maria becomes wealthy while waiting for Hermann, who is later released but goes away to Canada so that he can become a better man for Maria.

SPOILER ALERT!

Those looking to THE BOOK to get a plot synopsis on this one, beware! This is another case of the writers of THE BOOK writing as if they hadn't seen the film in ages and thus, giving misinformation. THE BOOK states that Bill attacked Maria and tried to rape her when she accidentally killed him, which isn't what happened at all. It not only makes you wonder about the other plot synopsis' (there are TONS of errors, trust me) but also the second paragraphs, which usually give personal opinions by whichever critic is writing that particular entry. Are they examining these films correctly or just guessing, because they actually haven't seen the film in a while? I haven't read the newest edition cover to cover, but I really hope the errors are kept to a minimum. Anyway...

I wasn't as crazy about this one as I was the other three Fassbinder flicks. I hate to keep pointing to World War II as the source of so much of my personal displeasure from THE BOOK, but lets just say that if I hated war films coming into this project, I hate them even more going out. In all honesty, I can handle a bit of war and even here it's simply the backdrop, but it's not particularly a world I found nearly as interesting as other worlds explored by Fassbinder, in the other three BOOK works I've seen. The characters and themes explored here weren't nearly as intriguing either. In fact, what exactly were the themes being explored here? I didn't have near as much fun analyzing this one, as I did say "Petra Von Kant", because I just didn't find that much analytical material. You had this character of Maria, who at times was fascinating, yet she wasn't really fascinating enough. What were her motives, her true desires, her endgame? I had trouble putting my finger on anything this character represented and ultimately, there were more than a few times during the picture where I was just flat out bored and ready for FIN.

On the other hand, the sexual tendencies and escapades of Maria were worth the audiences time and exploration and Hanna Schygulla was MAGNIFICENT! How have I not heard of this actress more? She was, for the two hour duration of this picture, sex appeal in female form! That red lipstick that managed to hypnotize me into hanging on every single syllable that she uttered. That hairdo that seemed to change in every scene and the lavish costumes that accentuated her as an object of desire. Seriously, sexy is an understatement!

I was with the picture for a while, but in the end I was just disappointed that it wasn't AS good as the other Fassbinder films I've seen in the past week. I liked it up to a point, but then the characters just seemed to go too astray for me and ultimately, they lost me. I really wanted to like it, but now that it's over I can say that it was just above average and that's all. Perhaps a rewatch someday will do in making me see the greatness of this one, but for today I say that there's much better Fassbinder's to behold.

RATING: 5.5/10  Well there you have it, the conclusion of the Fassbinder flicks and with it, the passing of four of my most anticipated films from THE BOOK. I will say that Fassbinder did not disappoint and as I've already noted in past posts, he was someone that I just somehow KNEW I'd take to. I look forward to seeing the rest of his forty-something filmography and hopefully finding more favorites.

RANKING FASSBINDER

1. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul
2. Fox and His Friends
3. The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant
4. The Marriage of Maria Braun

MOVIES WATCHED: 847
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 154

September 10, 2014  5:15pm

588. Angst essen Seele auf/Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974)

Running Time: 93 minutes
Directed By: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Written By: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Main Cast: Brigitte Mira, El Hedi ben Salem, Barbara Valentin, Irm Hermann, Rainer Werner Fassbinder

FASSBINDER WEEK: PART 3 of 4

When I watched Fox and His Friends last week, I managed to talk my wife into watching it with me since her goal was to spend the day together and my goal was to watch a movie. It just so happens that she ended up really liking it and thus agreed to watch the other two Fassbinder flicks with me. It's so much easier to watch these things when my wife agrees to do them with me, because otherwise I usually end up waiting until she's asleep. Anyway, Ali: Fear Eats the Soul...

If you've ever seen the film Far From Heaven, then you basically have the plot of "Ali". The film opens in a bar, where an elderly woman, Emmi (Mira), decides to take refuge from a storm, citing that she passes it every night on her way home but has never stopped in. She orders a cola, while some Arab customers eye her from the bar - one of them Ali (Salem), a thirty-something Moroccan living in Germany. On a dare from his friends, Ali asks Emmi to dance and the two chat it up, ending the dance and heading back to her table to finish their conversation. When the time draws late, Ali offers to walk Emmi home and once there, Emmi returns with an offer of her own - "come up for coffee". When Emmi hears that Ali shares a room with five other men, she is aghast and asks Ali to spend the night. Ali accepts. One thing leads to another and two find love for one another, except it's not a love that will come easy. Ali is of Moroccan decent and thus the relationship will have to overcome obstacles of prejudice from friends and relatives. When Emmi's landlord stops in and warns her about having lodgers, she thinks fast and says that Ali isn't just a lodger, but the man she plans to marry. This actually leads to the two getting married and now the racial tension really heats up. First it comes from Emmi's three children (two sons, 1 daughter) and son-in-law (Fassbinder), all of whom can only see the color of Ali's skin and not the smile on their mother's face. One son reacts by kicking in Emmi's television screen and storming out - the others just storm out. Add to the list Emmi's co-workers, neighbors and even the grocer downstaris, of whom Emmi has been a customer of for years and thus the words that appear on the screen at the beginning of the film come true: "happiness isn't always fun".

SPOILER ALERT!

The thing I think I found the most interesting in regards to this picture is the fact that no one is a saint. Think of all the movies you've seen about racial tension - USUALLY, the oppressed gain all of the audiences sympathy and the oppressors are 100% bad. Sure, that's still true here, but even Ali and Emmi aren't immune to harsh judgement from the audience. At one point, the once happy couple begin to have problems and Ali steps out on Emmi, finding love elsewhere in the arms of a blonde barmaid. One might say that Emmi is completely immune, that she does no wrong in this picture, but just watch as she shows off Ali to her friends, as if he were a brand new washing machine - Ali probably not fully understanding that he's being made to look like just some object. The whole film is really one big downer and Fassbinder wouldn't have it any other way - one of the reasons I've really come to enjoy his work. I've always hated tacked on, sappy endings to movies that yearn to be left on a dreadful note. Fassbinder apparently did to. Look at Fox and His Friends for example, Fassbinder's character left dead in a Subway and poor, poor Petra Von Kant, left utterly and completely alone. Fassbinder had a reputation of being a harsh director and harsh lover and he obviously didn't stop with real life, subjecting his characters to his most brutal harshness.

Emmi, widowed and alone, finally finding someone she can just share a conversation with. I don't think it would've mattered if he was black, white, Cuban or Asian, she was just a lonely old soul who needed someone there when she went home at night, someone to eat breakfast with and ride the tram with. Then you have Ali, somewhat ignorant to the ways of German society and even the language, perhaps taken advantage of by Emmi. Sure, she was putting him up in a decent apartment, but she didn't even ask him if he wanted to get married - simply blurted out to the landlord's son that it WAS happening and then it did. I think eventually he learned to lover her, but at first I got the sense that he was just going along with whatever she said, making an old woman happy. I think it's obvious that he wasn't attracted to her, thus why he stepped out on her for the embrace of Barbara. Yet, what he had with Barbara was just a sexual affair and once astray, he realized that what he had with Emmi was true love. The sexual part of it played second fiddle to the fact that she was kind to him and that their lives needed each other. Perhaps if we were to peer deeper into the future of this couple, Ali will continue to cheat on Emmi, but Emmi will understand. She'll understand that she can't satisfy this young, viril man sexually and know that he'll always come back to her, because she satisfies him in a deeper, more soulful way.

If I had to crack on the film for anything, I'd say that I could've used something different for an ending. I wasn't crazy about the whole ulcer revelation and really didn't get the significance of Emmi sitting by Ali's bedside, crying to end the film. I didn't hate it or anything, I just felt like there was another ending there, a better one. Other than that, it's kind of hard to crack on this movie at all, as so many elements are executed to perfection. I mean, what about that camera work?! I loved how Fassbinder stayed back during many of his shots, keeping a distance, eyeballing his subjects from afar. It made for some mesmerizing visuals, the types of images that you just don't get in your run of the mill motion picture. The acting was fine, as was the plot. The characters were fleshed out and developed and the whole film had an heir of greatness about it - you just felt as if you were watching something that was going to be great. Fassbinder is shaping up to be one of my favorite director's from THE BOOK and it just goes to show that sometimes you just KNOW what you're going to like. I was worried that perhaps I'd waited to long, that perhaps my interest in Fassbinder built up too much that disappointment was inevitable. But, so far, he's living up to everything I expected - maybe even a bit more.

RATING: 9/10  Can't go full monty, just because of that ending that didn't sit 100% well with me, but a '9' is right up there with some of the best movies I've watched all season. We're talking The French Connection, The Conversation, The Night of the Hunter type stuff here. If all goes as planned, I'll be back later with the conclusion to Fassbinder week. Stay tuned...

MOVIES WATCHED: 846
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 155

September 9, 2014  3:58pm

597. Faustrecht der Freiheit/Fox and His Friends (1975)

Running Time: 123 minutes
Directed By: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Written By: Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Christian Hohoff
Main Cast: Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Peter Chatel, Karlheinz Bohm, Harry Baer, Adrian Hovenvas

FASSBINDER WEEK: PART 2 of 4

I've somehow managed to dilly-dally away my whole weekend and here it is my Sunday (I'm off every Tuesday and Wednesday) and I've managed to only watch one movie since getting off work Monday afternoon. Shame on me. But hey, at least it was a good one, as Fassbinder Week rolls on...

Franz Bieberkopf (Fassbinder) a.k.a. Fox is a carnival performer who has just lost his job. He's known in the circus world as "Fox the Speaking Head", but now all that concerns him is getting ten marks so that he can buy a lottery ticket, of which he's sure he'll win. He meets up with Max and devises a quick con to swindle ten marks out of an unsuspecting florist. Max (Bohm) gives him a lift to the store, just as it's closing and with a little begging, convinces the shopkeeper to sell him the lottery ticket, which he subsequently hits and wins 500,000 marks. Now he hangs out at Max's on a regular basis and through Max meets Eugen (Chatel), whom he's attracted to. The two go back to Eugen's place one evening, wind up sleeping together and voila, Fox is in love. The only problem is that the two come from entirely different backgrounds, as before Fox hit the lottery, he was poor (hence having to con the florist out of the ten) and Eugen and his circle are of a wealthy, upper class. From here, Eugen tries his best to transform Fox into what he considers to be a mannerly, tout worthy boyfriend, to partial success. When Eugen's father's business threatens to go belly up, Eugen devises a plan to scheme Fox out of "some" of his money, taking him for 100,000 marks which Fox is happy to pay, considering he loves Eugen. Moving on, Eugen develops a condescending, downright snobby attitude toward Fox, speaking down to him every chance he gets, yet still taking him for as much money as possible. After the 100,000 that goes into the business, Eugen continually thinks up new things that the couple need: a swanky apartment, a new car, new clothes for Fox and after an argument, a vacation - Fox, of course, paying for everything.

SPOILER ALERT!

I started this one night last week, but my dog managed to sabotage me, as he wasn't feeling to swift and kept needing to go out. After a while, I got too tired to care anymore, shut the movie off and went to bed. From there, I managed to find The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant on YouTube and decided I better put off "Fox" until later, in case "Petra" were to be taken down. Anyway, I can tell you I wasn't too thrilled with what I'd seen (probably a half hour or so) that night and therefore, wasn't particularly looking forward to giving it a second try. Boy, was mislead. The film is filled with themes of class and sexuality, yet is very accessible to even the most untraveled movie watcher. The plot is pretty basic and throughout, we're forced to feel for Fox and side with him. There's actually a very clear line drawn of whose side we should be on and it's really some basic, yet really great storytelling. You get the sense from watching his movies that Fassbinder doesn't believe in love. In this and "Petra" we see two very one sided relationships, with one member of each relationship having a clear upper hand. It's funny and even THE BOOK notes that during their initial meeting, Fox is the alpha male. Note how he throws his clothes all over Eugen's apartment and jumps into his bed without even an invite, not to mention his somewhat over confident attitude. We can note these same exchanges in the initial meeting of Petra and Karin in "The Bitter Tears...", as Petra is the rich and Karin is the poor and Petra tells her all about how she'll make her a model and take her to the top. We see Karin look on with wide eyes and naivete, with the clear upper hand going to Petra. Now, as both films progress and as both Fox and Petra have the upper hands, as they fall deeper and deeper in love, they submit that upper hand to their "lover". Perhaps Fassbinder is trying to tell us that love will make you weak, especially when you give it to someone who doesn't return it.

As I watched and got deeper and deeper into the film, I kept wondering how it'd all end. I have to say the ending was pretty perfect: Fox having given EVERYTHING to Eugen, except a few spare marks, spends his last night sleeping in his car, before overdosing on valium and dying in the subway, only to have his pockets picked by two youths. I have to ask though, what were Max and Klaus doing together? Was there something there that went straight over my head, a relationship that was eluded to earlier that I missed, perhaps? I was kind of confused by that. I also really loved Fassbinder in this too. What is it about director's in their own movies that always somehow seems to turn out good? Perhaps it's because they know exactly the performance they want and how to deliver it - yeah, that must be it. I was totally taken by him in this and those littler mannerisms he'd deliver when Eugen scolded him, bowing his head a bit and somehow perfectly portraying a temporarily broken hearted man. It only served to side me more with him and oppose me more to Eugen, which is, I'm sure, the intended reaction. Oh and how about that apartment the two had? The spiral staircase, the balcony with the grand view and that marvelous bed with a cherub printed on the foot board - hell, it even had orange carpet, something that for some reason I always think of when I think of old style apartments. Anyway, it was awesome and I kind of wanted to live there, but no with these characters.

RATING: 8/10  Probably just sneaking into '8' territory, but an '8' nonetheless. This one had much more life than "Petra Von Kant" and even the characters had more personality. However, you have to give the dialogue point to "Petra". Both great films and I can't wait for the other two.

MOVIES WATCHED: 844
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 157

September 3, 2014  2:10pm

554. Die bitteren Tranen der Petra Von Kant/The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant (1972)

Running Time: 124 minutes
Directed By: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Written By: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Main Cast: Margit Carstensen, Irm Hermann, Hanna Schygulla, Gisela Fackeldey, Katrin Schaake

I wanted to make a quick note and let everyone know just how excited I am for these Fassbinder pictures. I've only ever seen two R.W. Fassbinder movies: Love Is Colder Than Death and Why Does Herr R. Run Amok?, which he only co-directed with someone else. About a month or so before I started the BOOK project, I made a conscious decision to broaden my horizons when it came to movies and see more older films and more foreign ones. I somehow got turned on to R.W. Fassbinder and somehow picked those two movies as my introduction to him (I'm not sure why I picked those two, since they're two of the most obscure ones, but whatever). Anyway, I didn't delve very deep before THE BOOK caught my eye at the bookstore and I turned to it for a way of broadening my horizons. Anyway, I've been holding these Fassbinder pictures for a rainy day and it just so happens that it's literally and figuratively raining today. Things have been a bit slow going on the blog, due to me losing a bit of my fire for the project and a string of bland films. I hope I haven't set my hopes too high, but I can tell you that I'm greatly looking forward to these in hopes of finding a new favorite director. I don't know what it is, but somehow I think that I'm really going to dig Fassbinder. Let's jump right in and find out, shall we...

FASSBINDER WEEK: PART 1 of 4

I didn't really want to do another tribute week so close to the Bresson Week stuff, but both Fox and His Friends and ...Petra Von Kant were on a "very long wait" from Netflix and when Fox and His Friends became available and got shipped, I decided to seek out TBTOPVK and just go for it. I managed to find ...Petra Von Kant on YouTube and thus, here we are.

The film is structured like a play, with all of the action confined to one room and a very dialogue heavy script. The film, as far as I saw it, could be split into four sections. The first section introduces the audience to Petra Von Kant (Carstensen) and her assistant Marlene (Hermann). Petra is a fashion designer and her room is filled with mannequins, clothing samples and drawing materials for clothing design. We never hear Marlene speak a word, instead only hearing Petra order her around ("get me some fresh squeeze orange juice, I'm dying of thrist", "is there any mail?") and treating her basically like a servant. In this introductory section, we also meet Sidonie (Schaake), a friend of Petra's who stops for a visit. While there, Petra tells Sidonie all about her recent divorce from her second husband Frank, whom she grew to loathe. Near the end of this section, we also meet Karin (Schygulla), a friend of Sidonie's who Petra is meeting for the first time. Petra suggests that Karin visit the next night, to talk about the prospect of becoming one of her models. The second section is basically just the prearranged date between Petra and Karin that was made at the end of the first part. They talk about being young and in school, about their loves, about Karin's possible modeling career and about Karin's parents. Karin is married, but her husband is in Sydney. When Petra learns that Karin is spending money on hotels, she offers to let her stay with her. Karin accepts and this part ends with Petra and Karin pronouncing their love for each other. The next section is six months later and portrays an argument between Petra and Karin (meanwhile Marlene is in the background nearly the entire time, throughout all sections). I don't want to give too much away for fear of spoilage, but lets just say it's a nasty argument that threatens their relationship, one that Petra values far more than Karin. Petra states her love for Karin often and enthusiastically, while Karin can only admit to liking Petra and perhaps not convinced of her own sexual tendencies. The final section takes place on Petra's birthday, with both her mother and her daughter visiting her, as well as Sidonie. Karin is expected, but will she show?

SPOILER ALERT!

My God, where to begin? So much to analyze, so many thoughts to pour out so that I have them down on paper somewhere and can reference them the next time I watch this, as I'm sure there will be a next time. Let's just jump right in, paying no mind to proper writing structure, shall we?

Over at IMDB, someone started an extremely interesting topic suggesting that Marlene and Frank (Petra's 2nd ex-husband) are the same person? Isn't that a genius idea? It makes total sense too! The poster states that Marlene did look sort of "mannish" and that Marlene would make her most desperate and pathetic gazes toward Petra during the times she was talking about Frank. I actually read this post prior to watching the movie, as I was doing a bit of pre-research the other day at lunch and was able to watch very carefully to see if this was possible and it totally is! The time frames even match up, as Petra tells Karin that she took Marlene on three years ago, just about the exact time that she married Frank. Petra also makes it clear that she loathed Frank's masculinity in particular, so it wouldn't be out of the question that she'd totally dominate him and force him to change his sex for her, as a way to make their marriage work. I think it's obvious that at some point, Petra decides she's no longer interested in men and let's face it, I'm sure Fassbinder would be all for a story about a man in drag (or even a completely transformed man, now living as a woman) gracing his script, as Fassbinder himself was bisexual. The poster suggests that you watch the film sometime with this thought in mind and I do too, because it fits and it's an interesting take on the film.

Desperation personified

However, even if it's not true, the Marlene character is still very interesting. My other theory (which I conjured on my own) is that Marlene and Petra once had a mirror image relationship to that of Petra and Karin, with Marlene in the Petra role and Petra in the Karin role. Stay with me here. In this scenario, I see Marlene as a once successful, confident designer who met Petra Von Kant and fell head over heels for her (like Petra did with Karin). Petra bit the bullet and began this lesbian relationship with Marlene, despite not being sure of her feelings. When things went sour, instead of ending it (like Karin would do) Petra stuck around and just chose to treat Marlene like dirt instead, getting "that old feeling" every once in a while, whenever SHE feels like it (the dance they share, for example). Marlene accepts it, because like Petra at the end of the film as it pertains to Karin, she's desperate for any sort of attention Petra would throw at her, even if it's abuse. There's also the chance that Marlene is just a submissive and Petra a dominant and they're in a relationship. No real clues as to what the truth is, but this is an instance where I really don't mind, as I find each explanation so intriguing that picking which one I like the best is more fun than just being told. I guess the sub/dom relationship is the go to explanation and most people cite this as why Marlene leaves in the end, as she sees a weakness in her dominant girlfriend and now can no longer take the abuse (which is a sexual turn on) seriously. And for anyone claiming that Marlene is mute and CAN'T speak, I say "no". Notice a scene where the phone rings, she picks it up and nearly gets out a "hello" before having the receiver yanked from her hand by Petra. A mute would have no reason to even pick up the phone...

What about the Karin character, was she ever really a lesbian? Or are we to assume that she's merely a gold digger, taking Petra's offer for a place to live and a jump start at a modeling career and sacrificing a few "I love you's" in the process, while her husband is away in Sydney? I think so. Karin never wanted a realtionship with Petra at all and when things got a bit too serious on that day - the day Petra donned the red wig - not to mention a phone call from her husband, now ready to reunite, she split without any real emotional attachment. She may have grown to care for her somewhat, which would explain her phone call at the end of the film, but I'd say Karin is more of a gold digger than a lesbian.

The film is really good, but beware that many cite it as very boring too. It's dialogue HEAVY (in fact, it's basically nothing but dialogue) so be prepared to listen to people just talk for a couple of hours. I will say this too, any points I deduct will likely be for the first two sections, which are filled with really less than perfect dialogue. Honestly, Petra and Sidonie's initial interaction could've either been cut way down or spiced way up, as they go on and on for probably nearly thirty minutes and honestly don't say much. It's crucial stuff though, as this is where we learn about Frank, so it's hard to say just take it out. The stuff between Karin and Petra, during their date is also pretty stale, as they spend minutes at a time talking about their school days and how Petra liked Algebra, but Karin just didn't get it and on and on and on. However, things get a lot better after that, as the big argument scene, as well as the birthday stuff are all GREAT, with Margit Carstensen pouring her freakin' heart out all over the screen.

RATING: 7.5/10  See, in a way I want to go higher, but then I remembered those droning dialogue scenes between Petra & Sidonie and Petra & Karin and I just can't help but take some points off. By the way, if Fassbinder really did write this entire film during a plane ride to Hollywood, that's insane! I'm racking my brain trying to figure these characters out & their intentions and for him, it's just busy work between putting on and taking off his seat belt and putting his tray table in its locked and upright position.

MOVIES WATCHED: 843
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 158

August 31, 2014  5:37pm