Ali: Fear Eats the Soul 1974  N/R, 92 min.
Genre: Foreign / Drama
aka: Fear Eats the Soul
Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Cast: Brigitte Mira, El Hedi ben Salem, Barbara Valentin, Irm Hermann, Peter Gauhe, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Karl Scheydt, Elma Karlowa, Anita Bucher, Walter Sedlmayr, Gusti Kreissl, Doris Mattes
Aging charwoman Emmi (Brigitte Mira) meets and begins an affair with a Moroccan, Ali (El Hedi Ben Salem), 20 years her junior. The couple is shunned by those around them and, after a time, they begin to have doubts about their relationship. Based on Douglas Sirk's "All That Heaven Allows," this is a good satire on prejudice.
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The American Soldier 1970  N/R, 80 min.
Genre: Foreign / Drama
Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Cast: Karl Scheydt, Elga Sorbas, Jan George, Hark Bohm, Eva Ingeborg Scholz, Kurt Raab, Marius Aicher, Gustl Datz, Marquard Bohm, Rainer Werner Fassbinder
In this tribute to U.S. gangster films, Ricky (Karl Scheydt), an American Vietnam vet originally from Munich, is hired by crooked cops to eliminate criminals they have not been able to catch. Things don't go as the cops planned, as Ricky plays the bad guys against the "good" guys.
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Berlin Alexanderplatz 1980  N/R, 930 min.
Genre: Foreign / Drama
Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Cast: Gunter Lamprecht, Hanna Schygulla, Barbara Sukowa, Gottfried John, Helmut Griem, Udo Kier, Ivan Desny, Hark Bohm, Elisabeth Trissenaar, Karin Baal, Franz Buchrieser, Peter Kollek
World War I Berlin is the backdrop of Alfred Doblin's 1929 novel. Presented as 14 individual episodes, the story follows the life of an ex-convict who tries to live an honorable existence but finds problems at every turn in the Berlin environment during the rise of Nazism.
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Beware of a Holy Whore 1971  N/R, 117 min.
Genre: Foreign / Comedy
Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Cast: Lou Castel, Eddie Constantine, Marquard Bohm, Hanna Schygulla, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Margarethe von Trotta, Hannes Fuchs, Ulli Lommel, Marcella Michelangeli, Kurt Raab, Karl Scheydt
The cast and crew of a German film company are on location awaiting materials (due to lack of funds) and the director, Jeff (Lou Castel). While they wait, the time is spent drinking, fighting, and sleeping around. When Jeff arrives, the funding has still not shown, and so more of the same antics continue as insights are gained on the filmmakers' lives.
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The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant 1972 N/R, 124 min.
Genre: Foreign / Drama
Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Cast: Margit Carstensen, Hanna Schygulla, Katrin Schaake, Eva Mattes, Gisela Fackeldey, Irm Hermann
Lesbian fashion designer Petra von Kant (Margit Carstensen) mistreats her assistant, Marlene (Irm Hermann), and "enjoys" a love/hate relationship with her lover, Karin (Hanna Schygulla), in this slow-paced psychodrama. The film is set entirely in Petra's bedroom and has only three main characters, but the result is an entertaining two hours.
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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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Gods of the Plague 1970 N/R, 92 min.
Genre: Foreign / Drama
Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Cast: Hanna Schygulla, Margarethe von Trotta, Harry Baer, Gunther Kaufmann, Ingrid Caven, Carla Egerer, Katrin Schaake, Irm Hermann, Jan George, Lilo Pempeit, Peter Moland
Fresh out of prison, Franz (Harry Baer) attempts to start a new life, but it becomes too hard and he reverts to his old ways. An early Fassbinder effort that displays his original thinking.
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In a Year of 13 Moons 1978 N/R, 124 min.
Genre: Foreign / Drama
aka: In a Year of Thirteen Moons
Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Cast: Volker Spengler, Ingrid Caven, Gottfried John, Elisabeth Trissenaar, Eva Mattes, Gunther Kaufmann, Lilo Pempeit, Isolde Barth, Karl Scheydt, Walter Bockmayer, Bob Dorsay, Peter Kollek
Formerly a man, Elvira Weishaupt (Volker Spengler) had a sex change after telling Anton Saitz (Gottfried John) that she loved him and being told, "Too bad, you aren't a woman." Now, Elvira tries to win Anton's love, but Anton is simply not interested.
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Katzelmacher 1969 N/R, 90 min.
Genre: Foreign / Drama
Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Cast: Hanna Schygulla, Rudolf Waldemar Brem, Elga Sorbas, Hans Hirschmuller, Lilith Ungerer, Harry Baer, Irm Hermann, Peter Moland, Doris Mattes, Rainer Werner Fassbinder
This is the story of a group of Munich men and women who hang out all day and night talking, smoking, and having sex. Circumstances change when an outsider, a Greek immigrant (Rainer Werner Fassbinder), arrives on the scene.
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Love Is Colder Than Death 1969 N/R, 86 min.
Genre: Foreign / Drama
Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Cast: Ulli Lommel, Hanna Schygulla, Katrin Schaake, Ingrid Caven, Liz Soellner, Ursula Stratz, Irm Hermann, Gisela Otto, Monika Nuchtern, Hans Hirschmuller, Kurt Raab, Peter Moland
A pimp/small-time criminal and the man that is sent to kill him strike up a friendship–even to the extent of sharing the pimp's girlfriend–in this unusual crime story that, though low budget, displays the talents of a young Fassbinder.
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The Marriage of Maria Braun 1978  R, 120 min.
Genre: Foreign / Drama
Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Cast: Hanna Schygulla, Klaus Lowitsch, Ivan Desny, Gisela Uhlen, Elisabeth Trissenaar, Gottfried John, Hark Bohm, George Byrd, Claus Holm, Gunter Lamprecht
In this, the first of three parables concerning postwar Germany, Hanna Schygulla takes on the role of Maria Braun who is a young woman who uses her head not only to survive but also to prosper. The other two parables are "Lola" and "Veronika Voss."
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Martha 1974 TV, 116 min.
Genre: Foreign / Drama
Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Cast: Margit Carstensen, Karlheinz Bohm, Barbara Valentin, Peter Chatel, Gisela Fackeldey, Adrian Hoven, Ortrud Beginnen, Kurt Raab, Ingrid Caven, Peter Berling, Gunter Lamprecht, El Hedi ben Salem
Martha (Margit Carstensen) has lived a protected life, but her lifestyle changes when, immediately following her father's death, she marries a stranger (Karlheinz Bohm), and the battles begin.
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The Merchant of Four Seasons 1972 N/R, 88 min.
Genre: Foreign / Drama
Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Cast: Hans Hirschmuller, Irm Hermann, Hanna Schygulla, Andrea Schober, Gusti Kreissl, Kurt Raab, Heide Simon, Klaus Lowitsch, Karl Scheydt, Ingrid Caven
This is a bleak, but powerful, portrait of Hans, a fruit peddler on the streets of a German town. Starting with high hopes after returning from a tour in the French Foreign Legion, he settles into a loveless marriage, and his depression gets deeper as his failures mount. He finally drinks himself to death.
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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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Pioneers in Ingolstadt 1971 N/R, 84 min.
Genre: Foreign / Drama
Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Cast: Hanna Schygulla, Harry Baer, Irm Hermann, Rudolf Waldemar Brem, Walter Sedlmayr, Klaus Lowitsch, Carla Egerer, Gunther Kaufmann, Berghard Schlicht, Elga Sorbas
Soldiers are sent to Ingolstadt to build a bridge. This minor work of Fassbinder shows them at their work and their sexual exploits during their time off.
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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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The Third Generation 1979 N/R, 111 min.
Genre: Foreign / Comedy / Drama
Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Cast: Eddie Constantine, Margit Carstensen, Hanna Schygulla, Udo Kier, Volker Spengler, Gunther Kaufmann, Hark Bohm, Bulle Ogier, Harry Baer, Vitus Zeplichal, Raul Gimenez, Y Sa Lo, Lilo Pempeit, Claus Holm
German terrorists–Rudolf, Paul, and August (Harry Baer, Raul Gimenez, and Volker Spengler)–masquerade as clowns and kidnap prominent industrialist Peter Lurz (Eddie Constantine) in an effort to attract attention to the evils of capitalism, but their inane mistakes prove to be their undoing.
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Why Does Herr R. Run Amok? 1970 N/R, 88 min.
Genre: Foreign / Drama
Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Michael Fengler
Cast: Kurt Raab, Lilith Ungerer, Amadeus Fengler, Lilo Pempeit, Franz Maron, Harry Baer, Peter Moland, Hanna Schygulla, Ingrid Caven, Irm Hermann, Doris Mattes, Vinzenz Sterr, Maria Sterr
Technical designer Herr R. appears to have life going his way: a good marriage and a promising professional future–until he runs amok and kills his wife, child, and neighbor.
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| 1. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974)
aka: Fear Eats the Soul
2. The American Soldier (1970)
3. Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980)
4. Beware of a Holy Whore (1971)
5. The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant (1972)
6. Chinese Roulette (1976)
7. Fear of Fear (1976)
8. Gods of the Plague (1970)
9. In a Year of 13 Moons (1978)
aka: In a Year of Thirteen Moons
10. Katzelmacher (1969)
11. Lola (1981)
12. Love Is Colder Than Death (1969)
13. The Marriage of Maria Braun (1978)
14. Martha (1974)
15. The Merchant of Four Seasons (1972)
16. Mother Kusters Goes to Heaven (1975)
aka: Mother Kuster's Trip to Heaven
17. Pioneers in Ingolstadt (1971)
18. Satan's Brew (1976)
19. The Stationmaster's Wife (1977)
20. The Third Generation (1979)
21. Veronika Voss (1982)
22. Why Does Herr R. Run Amok? (1970)
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