Tag Archives: Rainer Werner Fassbinder

The Stationmaster’s Wife (1977)

I’ve never understood why distributors feel the need to change the titles of foreign movies instead of properly translating them. Okay, I do understand why—they want to appeal to a broader, i.e., American audience—but I really think it’s annoying. In … Continue reading

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Chinese Roulette (1976)

I recently announced I had wrapped up 1976. Not true! I forgot about Chinese Roulette! Apologies to anyone actually following this thing who might have rejoiced at another year’s worth of Fassbinder out of the way, but we’ve got one … Continue reading

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Satan’s Brew (1976)

I’ve always said the others made me into the leader, whereas they say I was looking for followers. So I’ve simply tried to create a comedy about myself as seen from outside,  a comedy about what I would be if … Continue reading

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I Only Want You to Love Me (1976)

As I’ve said many times now, one of Fassbinder’s great strengths as an artist was his ability to translate incredibly specific, personal, and often idiosyncratic experiences and emotions into terms that a much wider audience could relate to. You don’t … Continue reading

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Fear of Fear (1975)

It’s impossible to watch Angst vor der Angst (the German title is just so much better, don’t you think? Just say it out loud!) without thinking of Martha. Both films feature Margit Carstensen as a high-strung housewife crushed by marriage. … Continue reading

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Mother Küsters Goes to Heaven (1975)

My husband and I saw Mother Küsters Goes to Heaven as part of a Fassbinder retrospective at the Pacific Film Archive in the 1990s. It was one of our favorite movies at the time, so of course I was curious … Continue reading

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Fox and His Friends (1975)

Fassbinder acted in several of his own films, but almost never included his name in the credits and rarely cast himself in the lead role. Love Is Colder Than Death: no acting credit. Katzelmacher: no acting credit. The American Soldier, … Continue reading

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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

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Martha (1974)

I’ve always assumed that Fear Eats the Soul marks the pinnacle of RWF’s obsession with Douglas Sirk. (I believe I said as much in my last post.) But that’s only because I hadn’t seen Martha. Now that I’ve seen Martha … Continue reading

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