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Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Fassbinder was the most prolific major gay director of the past half-century—44 films from 1965 to 1982. He died at age 37 from an overdose of cocaine and pills. Any fans of him on here? I have not seen all his films but the ones I love are Fox and His Friends (1975), The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979), Veronika Voss (1982), and his last film Querelle (1982) adapted from a Jean Genet novel and starring hot Brad Davis.

In February 2022, gay French filmmaker Francois Ozon is debuting his remake/reinterpretation of Fassbinder’s The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant starring the great Isabelle Adjani at the Berlin Film Festival. Should be interesting, link below …

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by Anonymousreply 50February 12, 2023 7:27 PM

Yes I love his movies. I just got The Criterion Channel and they have a good selection. I haven't watched everything but I like everything that I have seen so far. I do like that he wasn't shy about male nudity and showing some very interesting images and a view into some unique lives.

by Anonymousreply 1January 13, 2022 10:40 AM

If they remade Querelle which modern actor could pull off the title role?

by Anonymousreply 2January 13, 2022 10:47 AM

In A Year Of 13 Moons and Ali: Fear Eats The Soul are masterpieces, while I find a lot to like in Satan’s Brew, Martha and Despair. Of course, Berlin Alexanderplatz is often mentioned as his most significant work - I own it but have not carved out the 17-hour commitment to watch it all quite yet. The one I haven’t been able to track down but I am dying to see is Lili Marlene. Fingers crossed Criterion acquires it sometime soon.

by Anonymousreply 3January 13, 2022 10:48 AM

R2, great question! Hmm, well MY choice off the top of my head would be Henry Cavill. Yum!

by Anonymousreply 4January 13, 2022 10:59 AM

R3, Lili Marlene seemed to have been his biggest hit in the US. And it does have a wider appeal than most of Fassbinder which makes its absence baffling.

by Anonymousreply 5January 13, 2022 11:34 AM

I can't understand the impetus to remake Petra von Kant, especially with a male lead, as a "tribute" to Fassbinder or filmmaking in general. In any case Fassbinder was bisexual, as his messy personal life attests. His depictions of women (particularly in Petra von Kant) and gay men along with his idiosyncratic politics were controversial in the '70s and for those reasons it's hard to imagine Gen Z embracing his work.

I love his miniseries Acht Stunden sind kein Tag (Eight Hours Don't Make a Day), which was on the Criterion channel at one point, the BRD Trilogy (Maria Braun, Lola, Veronika Voss) and Mutter Küsters Fahrt zum Himmel are good, too.

by Anonymousreply 6January 13, 2022 11:39 AM

So if Petra is a man and the others are still women, that takes out the queerness.

So now Petra is heterosexual.

by Anonymousreply 7January 13, 2022 1:00 PM

R7, the new one will have Petra as a gay man that is more or less inspired by Fassbinder in real life, and his love interest(s) in the new version is a man.

by Anonymousreply 8January 13, 2022 1:06 PM

I look forward to every Ozon film.

by Anonymousreply 9January 13, 2022 1:20 PM

R9, 8 Femmes is required viewing

by Anonymousreply 10January 13, 2022 1:21 PM

Fassbinder was another deplorable German Nazi, peddling anti-Jewish stereotypes as "art".

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by Anonymousreply 11January 13, 2022 1:33 PM

R6. Are you the bisexual troll? Because OP is correct. Fassbinder was gay. His first and only wife attests to this fact and she's pretty fired up that many are trying to rewrite his history.

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by Anonymousreply 12January 13, 2022 3:52 PM

Thank you for the link R12

by Anonymousreply 13January 13, 2022 3:54 PM

I’m not a “bisexual troll,” R12. He had male and female lovers irrespective of his matrimonial status, and he usually physically abused his female partners (see: Irm Hermann or even Craven) or allowed his male partners to abuse him (see Hedi ben Salem). Craven’s interview shows a jealous woman (of Juliane Lorenz in this case) staking out her own fame. Why are you so interested in a German filmmaker when you can’t even read German?

by Anonymousreply 14January 13, 2022 5:32 PM

Plenty of great art has been created by bad men.

by Anonymousreply 15January 13, 2022 5:37 PM

He was gay, Bisexual Troll, and you're calling his ex wife a jealous cunt for saying so? That's rich.

by Anonymousreply 16January 13, 2022 5:38 PM

I have never been able to see Querelle on any streaming or TV site. One of those movies I need to see - but I’m not buying it.

by Anonymousreply 17January 13, 2022 7:31 PM

Rainer Werner Fassbinder was hast du nur getan? Bist dem weissen Pulver, geworden Untertan.

by Anonymousreply 18April 25, 2022 1:23 AM

Why does Isabelle Adjani look like she's 25? At her age, that's just creepy.

by Anonymousreply 19April 25, 2022 1:29 AM

Welt am Draht (World on a Wire) (1973) is one of my favorite films of all time. Absolute perfection.

by Anonymousreply 20April 25, 2022 1:29 AM

I've not seen any of his films in full, but as a kid I remember Querelle being played on our World Movies channel here (SBS) and just seeing the scene where Brad Davis gets fucked up the arse in his sailor suit. I felt all funny and knew then that there was something different about me.

by Anonymousreply 21April 25, 2022 1:31 AM

Adjani can’t leave her face alone. Not unlike Kidman

by Anonymousreply 22April 25, 2022 1:41 AM

I love Fassbinder. Fox and His (horrible) Friends upsets me every time I watch it.

by Anonymousreply 23April 25, 2022 1:51 AM

Years ago Ozon also directed a film based on a Fassbinder play called Water Drops on Burning Rocks, which is pretty entertaining.

by Anonymousreply 24April 25, 2022 1:54 AM

R23, it does upset me too. But it’s too real that I can’t not consider it one of the best films I’ve seen

by Anonymousreply 25April 25, 2022 2:18 AM

I like films about making films like truffaut’s “day for night” so fassbinder’s “Beware of a Holy Whore (1971)” really appealed to me. It was from around the same time as the Truffaut film but has a grittier feel - as do all fassbinder’s films, but from what I remember it was still a good watch.

I also liked “Mother kusters goes to heaven” from what I remember.

A lot of his films I did not like the first time I saw them but after giving them another go I have come to like them. “Fox and his friends” comes to mind.

When I first learned about fassbinder it was because he was constantly being compared to Douglas Sirk. I loved the 50s melodramas of Sirk so I wanted to find more films like “all that heaven allows”, “written on the wind” and “imitation of life”… and fassbinder’s “ali- fear eats the soul” often came up through my searches. Well I gave it a go and was pretty disappointed that it wasn’t this glamorous melodrama that I expected but more a gritty social realist film that I honestly found quite ugly to look at. I’ve since grown to appreciate it but find it more Mike Leigh rather than Sirk.

I wanted to love “Veronika Voss” but I didn’t. I’ll have to rewatch it though as certain scenes have stayed with me and I may like it more now.

by Anonymousreply 26April 25, 2022 2:25 AM

Such an incredible filmography. His work is more often than not dazzlingly sordid, stylish and colorful, with great cinematography and gritty, well-formed characters (often using the same cast members) in strange but very realistic situations. I like Querelle but it’s never been my favorite.

The Third Generation, Fox and His Friends, Why Does Herr R. Run Amok, A Year In 13 Moons, Bitter Tears of…, Ali Fear Eats the Soul are some that spring to mind as having loved, without looking them up (I may have gotten some of those titles wrong) I even watched Berlin Alexanderplatz (didn’t love it).

by Anonymousreply 27April 25, 2022 2:26 AM

What's Hanna Schygulla been doing all these years?

by Anonymousreply 28April 25, 2022 2:57 AM

I just saw Satan’s Brew for the first time last week, having seen 20+ Fassbinder films thus far. It’s depraved, sadistic and crazy in a way beyond even Artaud (who it is dedicated to, actually). What a unique artist he was… I can’t even imagine making a movie like that today.

by Anonymousreply 29April 25, 2022 3:15 AM

OP- If she's so great how come I've never heard of her ( Isabelle Adjani) till now.

by Anonymousreply 30April 25, 2022 3:17 AM

R30 uh, because you're ignorant when it comes to French cinema?

by Anonymousreply 31April 25, 2022 10:36 AM

70’s/80’s Berlin is captured so beautifully in his films.

by Anonymousreply 32April 25, 2022 10:46 AM

Why is it so hard to get your hands on Lili Marleen these days?

It was probably his biggest hit in the US. Now it is the one film you cannot find streaming or on DVD.

by Anonymousreply 33April 25, 2022 12:29 PM

Has r30 never been on DL before???

This scene is a family favorite here.

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by Anonymousreply 34April 28, 2022 2:45 AM

R34 Or seen a movie? I guess she’s no Jessica Chastain.

by Anonymousreply 35April 28, 2022 3:08 AM

I did a thread on Billy Wilder a couple of weeks ago and not one person replied. I was kind of surprised. Is Fassbinder really more popular on DL than Billy Wilder (he must be)?

by Anonymousreply 36April 28, 2022 4:15 AM

Sirk influence is everywhere but especially in Petra von Kant: it’s an exercise in claustrophobia—actors are swallowed up by costumes and sets!

by Anonymousreply 37April 28, 2022 4:17 AM

[quote]I did a thread on Billy Wilder a couple of weeks ago and not one person replied.

I missed it, R36, but you've got my attention. I'll search for it now.

by Anonymousreply 38April 28, 2022 5:12 AM

Great adaptation of a classic German novel.

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by Anonymousreply 39April 28, 2022 5:48 AM

r36 If you start a new thread at the wrong time, it can get lost in the shuffle.

by Anonymousreply 40April 29, 2022 12:43 AM

[quote]What's Hanna Schygulla been doing all these years?

When Sandra Bernhard used to go on David Letterman, there was a period where she was always bringing her up and talking (joking?) about working with her.

by Anonymousreply 41February 12, 2023 12:11 PM

Love his work.

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by Anonymousreply 42February 12, 2023 12:17 PM

What do people think is the best work of his for a newbie like myself? I am curious about watching Querelle in full (I am poster R21 above), though I've heard mixed reactions to it.

by Anonymousreply 43February 12, 2023 12:20 PM

Brad Davis & Querelle; there's nothing more to say.

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by Anonymousreply 44February 12, 2023 12:20 PM

Yeah Baby!

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by Anonymousreply 45February 12, 2023 12:22 PM

Brad Smith really threw himself into roles didn't he?

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by Anonymousreply 46February 12, 2023 12:25 PM
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by Anonymousreply 47February 12, 2023 12:28 PM

Hanna S. shows up for old time's sake in PETER VAN KANT, which I rather liked.

She's resisted going under the knife or starving herself, unlike Adjani.

by Anonymousreply 48February 12, 2023 1:07 PM

"Hansel and Gretel are alive and well And they're living in Berlin She is a cocktail waitress He had a part in a Fassbinder film" --Laurie Andesron

by Anonymousreply 49February 12, 2023 6:14 PM

Love Laurie Anderson. "What Fassbender film is it...?"

by Anonymousreply 50February 12, 2023 7:27 PM
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