Directed by:
Annekatrin HendelScreenplay:
Annekatrin HendelCinematography:
Martin FarkasCast:
Rainer Werner Fassbinder (a.f.), Margit Carstensen, Irm Hermann, Juliane Lorenz, Hanna Schygulla, Harry Baer, Hark Bohm, Wolf Gremm, Günter Rohrbach (more)Plots(1)
In 1981, Rainer Werner Fassbinder died at the age of 37, holding a bloody manuscript for a film about Rosa Luxemburg's life. During the preceding decade, the manic film director had already created almost 50 films for the silver screen. Fassbinder's death marked the end of an era, leaving West Germany struggling to understand its history in absence of its most relentless critic. Through rare interviews, those close to Fassbinder talk with honesty and love about what it was like to live and work with the drugaddicted political critic. The film paints a picture of a charismatic tyrant whose life goal was to break the postwar taboos of his country. Neither people nor ideas were saved from Fassbinger's sharp critique. Sexual norms, Hitler's legacy, bourgeois culture, and leftist terrorism – they all received the same treatment. But the unconditional and extreme lifestyle came with a high price: series of strained personal relationships and a complete burnout. The documentary features a comprehensive selection of archival material that effectively guides us into the expansive web of work, love, and obsession that was to become his fate.
Saara Tamminen / Translation: Sanna Parikka
(DocPoint)
Cast
Rainer Werner Fassbinder (a.f.)
Germany
Best movies:
Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980) (series) - actor, narrator
Fear Eats the Soul (1974)
The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979)
Margit Carstensen
German Empire
Best movies:
Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980) (series)
Martha (1974) (TV movie)
Satan's Brew (1976)
Irm Hermann
German Empire
Best movies:
Der Zauberberg (1982)
Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980) (series)
Fear Eats the Soul (1974)
Juliane Lorenz
West Germany
Best movies:
Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980) (series)
The Stationmaster's Wife (1977) (TV movie)
In a Year of 13 Moons (1978)
Hanna Schygulla
German Empire
Best movies:
Werckmeister Harmonies (2000)
Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980) (series)
Hunting Scenes from Bavaria (1969)
Harry Baer
Germany
Best movies:
Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980) (series)
Why Does Herr R. Run Amok? (1970)
Jail Bait (1973) (TV movie)
Hark Bohm
German Empire
Best movies:
Knockin' on Heaven's Door (1997)
Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980) (series)
Underground (1995)
Wolf Gremm
German Empire
Best movies:
Querelle (1982)
Günter Rohrbach
German Empire
Fritz Müller-Scherz
Germany
Volker Schlöndorff
German Empire
Best movies:
Why Does Herr R. Run Amok? (1970)
Léon Morin, Priest (1961)
The Finger Man (1962)
Thomas Schühly
West Germany
Best movies:
Veronika Voss (1982)
Der König von St. Pauli (1998) (series)
Karlheinz Böhm (a.f.)
German Empire
Best movies:
Martha (1974) (TV movie)
Fist-Right of Freedom (1975)
Effi Briest (1974)
Lou Castel (a.f.)
Colombia
Best movies:
Fists in the Pocket (1965)
The Leopard (1963)
What Time Is It? (1989)
Ingrid Caven (a.f.)
German Empire
Best movies:
Narcissus and Psyche (1980)
Fear Eats the Soul (1974)
Martha (1974) (TV movie)
Eddie Constantine (a.f.)
USA
Best movies:
Europa (1991)
Cleo from 5 to 7 (1962)
World on a Wire (1973) (TV movie)
Ivan Desny (a.f.)
China
Best movies:
Bon Voyage! (1962)
Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980) (series)
The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979)
El Hedi ben Salem (a.f.)
Morocco
Best movies:
Fear Eats the Soul (1974)
Martha (1974) (TV movie)
Jail Bait (1973) (TV movie)
Claus Holm (a.f.)
German Empire
Best movies:
Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980) (series)
The Devil Strikes at Night (1957)
The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979)
Gottfried John (a.f.)
German Empire
Best movies:
Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980) (series)
The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979)
Institute Benjamenta, or This Dream People Call Human Life (1995)