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Tag Archives: hanna schygulla
Berlin Alexanderplatz – Part XIV: Epilogue – My Dream of Franz Biberkopf’s Dream by Alfred Döblin (1980)
“Okay, now I have mastered this craft.” —Rainer Werner Fassbinder, upon wrapping Berlin Alexanderplatz (quoted in Chaos as Usual) If Part XIII seemed a little lackluster, let’s just say the Epilogue more than makes up for it. It certainly puts … Continue reading
Berlin Alexanderplatz – Part XI: Knowledge Is Power and the Early Bird Catches the Worm (1980)
And even if the worms eat dirt and let it out behind them, they always eat it up again. The little devils show no mercy. If you stuff their bellies full today, tomorrow they have to start all over again. … Continue reading
Posted in German Cinema, Melodrama, Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Tagged Annemarie Duringer, Gottfried John, hanna schygulla
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Berlin Alexanderplatz – Part VII: Remember—An Oath Can Be Amputated (1980)
And so Biberkopf has come to Berlin for the third time. The first time the roofs were about to slide off, then the Jews came and he was saved. The second time Lüders cheated him, but he swigged his way … Continue reading
Posted in German Cinema, Melodrama, Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Tagged Gunter Lamprecht, hanna schygulla
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Berlin Alexanderplatz – Part V: A Reaper with the Power of Our Lord (1980)
Part 5 seems to mark a transition from one set of concerns (how is Franz Biberkopf going to make a life for himself outside of prison?) to another. Whatever those new concerns turn out to be exactly, they are, at … Continue reading
Posted in German Cinema, Melodrama, Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Tagged Gunter Lamprecht, hanna schygulla, Peer Raben
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Berlin Alexanderplatz – Part IV: A Handful of People in the Depths of Silence (1980)
Franz Biberkopf awakens in a dark, dingy, down-market room, a castaway in a sea of empty beer bottles, on a bender to beat all benders. Otto Lüders’ duplicity was just too much to bear; Franz has hidden himself away from … Continue reading
Posted in German Cinema, Melodrama, Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Tagged Gerhard Zwerenz, Gunter Lamprecht, hanna schygulla
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Berlin Alexanderplatz – Part I: The Punishment Begins (1980)
I don’t have to, but I’m going to come clean: about five years ago I rented and watched the first three episodes of Berlin Alexanderplatz. And then I gave up. I couldn’t deal with it. I couldn’t handle the relentless … Continue reading
Posted in German Cinema, Melodrama, Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Tagged Brigitte Mira, Gunter Lamprecht, hanna schygulla
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The Third Generation (1979)
No, the tenor, if you will, hasn’t changed. The theme’s remained the same, and always will remain the same: the manipulability, the exploitability of feelings within the system that we live in, and that at least one generation or more … Continue reading
Posted in German Cinema, Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Tagged Gunther Kaufmann, hanna schygulla, margit Carstensen, Volker Spengler
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The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979)
This is the one, right? This is the movie that put Fassbinder squarely in the pantheon of great directors (as opposed to that much smaller clubhouse for New German Cinema directors), the first of his movies to achieve international renown … Continue reading
Posted in German Cinema, Melodrama, Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Tagged hanna schygulla
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Effi Briest (1974)
Before we get started I just want to state for the record that my assertion that Martha just might be the movie in which RWF learned that he could dispense with critical distance altogether might very well be the stupidest … Continue reading
Posted in German Cinema, Melodrama, Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Tagged effi briest, hanna schygulla, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Theodor Fontane
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The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (1972)
As you might expect, there are a couple of RWF movies I’ve been really dreading, some because they’re really slow and static, others because they’re just emotionally brutal and depressing. The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant has been at … Continue reading
Posted in 1970s style, German Cinema, Melodrama, Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Tagged hanna schygulla, Irm Hermann, margit Carstensen
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In a Year with 44 Films 