Rainer Werner Fassbinder

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Rainer Werner Fassbinder

• I often ask myself, where do I stand in the
  history of my country. Why am I German?

Between 1969 1982 he made 44 films
Parents divorce when he is six. Finds solace at
the cinema.
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Fassbinders Anti-Theater (Munich) Key
members Hannah Schygulla Ingrid Caven Margit
Carstensen Rosel Zech Barbara Sukowa
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Fassbinders Phases
1969 1970 the gangster films extension of
theatre work, static camera 1971 1976 the
melodramas heavily influenced by Douglas
Sirk 1976 1981 the German history
films introspective subject matter, everyday
fascism
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The Melodramas
Angst Essen Seele Auf (Ali Fear Eats the Soul)
1974 Reworking of Sirks All that Heaven Allows
Working from the periphery of society Social
ostracism prejudice The notion of self and
other within society Coming to terms with
(self-) identity
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1976 International Status
Recipient of Federal Film Prize International
acclaim Critical study of his work Ambivalent
relationship with Germany desire to
emigrate Turbulent personal life
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The German History Films
Nazi past an unwanted legacy the sins of the
fathers instigates a generational conflict Return
to German history in film includes Fassbinder,
Syberberg, Kluge, Schlöndorff, to name but a
few..
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In einem Jahr mit dreizehn Monden (In a Year of
13 Moons) 1978
The loss of identity catastrophic results The
status of the Jew in contemporary German
society The Auschwitz Bonus Acknowledging the
debt
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Deutschland im Herbst (Germany in Autumn) 1977/78
everyday fascism evident in the relationship
between the state and its subjects and between
individual relationships. What is just below the
surface of the apparent democracy in West
Germany? Compassion for both victims and
victimisers
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BRD-Trilogie (FRG-trilogy)
Die Ehe der Maria Braun Lola Die Sehnsucht der
Veronika Voss The changing and unchanging nature
of Germany Individual quests as allegorical for
the fate of Germany