Chinese Roulette 1976 N/R, 96 min. Genre: Foreign / Drama
Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder Cast: Margit Carstensen, Ulli Lommel, Anna Karina, Brigitte Mira, Alexander Allerson, Andrea Schober, Macha Meril, Volker Spengler, Armin Meier, Roland Henschke
A wealthy, happily-married couple has a daughter who is crippled as a result of an accident. The husband heads off on a business trip to Oslo and his wife heads to Milan. But, both really pick up their lovers and go to the family vacation castle. When the four meet, they decide to continue with their respective plans at the castle. But when the daughter shows up and decides to play a game of "Chinese Roulette," the weekend takes a turn for the worse.
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Fear of Fear 1976 N/R, 88 min. Genre: Foreign / Drama
Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder Cast: Margit Carstensen, Ulrich Faulhaber, Brigitte Mira, Irm Hermann, Armin Meier, Adrian Hoven, Kurt Raab, Ingrid Caven, Lilo Pempeit, Helga Maerthesheimer, Hark Bohm
Margot (Margit Carstensen) thinks that she is losing her mind after recently having a baby, but neither her husband nor in-laws seem to care about her problem. She begins a downward plunge through drink and drugs in another of Fassbinder's experimental tales.
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Mother Kusters Goes to Heaven 1975 N/R, 110 min. Genre: Foreign / Drama aka: Mother Kuster's Trip to Heaven
Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder Cast: Brigitte Mira, Ingrid Caven, Armin Meier, Irm Hermann, Gottfried John, Karlheinz Bohm, Margit Carstensen, Gustav Holzapfel, Lilo Pempeit, Peter Kern, Kurt Raab
Middle-aged Emma Kusters is the wife of an unhappy factory worker. One day he loses it, kills the factory owner's son, and then kills himself. Emma becomes a celebrity, giving interviews of her story, only to be made fun of by the press. Her daughter uses the notoriety to help in her singing career, while a Communist couple befriends her, only to use her to advance their cause. She is finally left alone after others had used her for their selfish desires. In the end she meets with an unselfish act when she is invited to dinner by the factory owner. A pessimistic outlook on the social issues of the day in Germany.
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Satan's Brew 1976 N/R, 106 min. Genre: Foreign / Comedy
Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder Cast: Kurt Raab, Helen Vita, Margit Carstensen, Volker Spengler, Ingrid Caven, Y Sa Lo, Ulli Lommel, Katherina Buchhammer, Armin Meier, Vitus Zeplichal, Brigitte Mira, Peter Chatel
Washed-up writer Walter (Kurt Raab) needs money, but various efforts fail until his mistress helps, after which she asks him to kill her while in a sexually-aroused condition. He accommodates her and goes home to his brash, slovenly wife (Helen Vita) and mentally challenged Ernst (Volker Spengler) who tries to have sex with flies. After other adventures, he writes a piece, which his wife identifies as being written by a 19th century homosexual poet. Convinced he is a reincarnation of that poet, he sticks with that persona. And on it goes in this dark, dark comedy.
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The Stationmaster's Wife 1977 N/R, 111 min. Genre: Foreign / Drama
Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder Cast: Elisabeth Trissenaar, Kurt Raab, Bernhard Helfrich, Karl-Heinz von Hassel, Volker Spengler, Gustl Bayrhammer, Udo Kier, Armin Meier, Peter Kern, Doris Mattes, Lilo Pempeit, Elma Karlowa
Beautiful, bored, philandering Hanni (Elisabeth Trissenaar) manipulates her Stationmaster husband, Xaver Ferdinand Maria Bolwieser (Kurt Raab), in pre-Hitler Bulgaria.
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| 1. Chinese Roulette (1976)
2. Fear of Fear (1976)
3. Mother Kusters Goes to Heaven (1975) aka: Mother Kuster's Trip to Heaven
4. Satan's Brew (1976)
5. The Stationmaster's Wife (1977)
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