Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Still: Angst essen Seele auf
Rainer Werner FASSBINDER (1946-1982, Germany) was a prolific director, playwright and actor, and considered one of the most important filmmakers of the New German Cinema movement. Fassbinder studied drama at the Fridl-Leonhard Studio in Munich and, after getting turned down from Berlin Film School, became a member of the Munich Action-Theater in 1967. After several years of working and performing with Action-Theater and its follow-up Anti-Theater, he began focusing on directing films. He made his first feature film Liebe ist kälter als der Tod in 1969, premiering at Berlin Film Festival. Regularly working with the same actors and crew and often using the first take allowed him to film at a high pace, completing several films per year. His first international success came with Händler der vier Jahreszeiten (1972). In 1974, he released Angst essen Seele auf, widely regarded as his masterpiece. The film was nominated for the Palme d’Or in Cannes, and won the Silver Hugo at Chicago International Film Festival. Its success allowed Fassbinder to make a number of high-budget international productions, including Despair (1978), his first English-language film. The film earned him his second Palme d’Or nomination. That same year, he achieved his biggest commercial succes with Die Ehe der Maria Braun, which was a hit with both German and foreign audiences. It was the first of his BDR trilogy, which also consisted of Lola (1981) and Die Sehnsucht der Veronika Voss (1982). In 1982, he passed away while working on Rosa L., which remains unfinished. His final film Querelle was released a few months after the director’s death.

Filmography

This Night (1965, short), Der Stadtstreicher/The City Tramp (1965, short), Das kleine Chaos/The Little Chaos (1966, short), Liebe ist kälter als der Tod/Love is Colder Than Death (1969), Katzelmacher (1969), Götter der Pest (1969), Der amerikanische Soldat/The American Soldier (1970), Das Kaffeehaus (1970), Die niklashauser Fahrt (1970), Rio das Mortes (1970), Whity (1970), Warum lauft Herr R. Amok?/Why Does Herr R. Run Amok? (1970), Warnung vor einer heiligen Nutte/Beware of a Holy Whore (1971), Der Händler der vier Jahreszeiten/The Merchant of Four Seasons (1972), Bremer Freiheit/Bremen Freedom (1972, TV), Acht Stunden sind kein Tag/Eight Hours Don’t Make a Day (1972, TV series), Wildwechsel/Jail Bait (1973, TV), Die bitteren Tränen der Petra von Kant/The Bitter Tears of Petra Kant (1973), Nora Helmer (1973, TV), Welt am Draht/World on a Wire (1973, TV series), Angst essen Seele auf/Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974), Effi Briest (1974), Martha (1974), Angst vor der Angst/Fear of Fear (1975, TV), Faustrecht der Freiheit/Fox and His Friends (1975), Mutter Küsters fährt zum Himmel/Mother Küsters Goes to Heaven (1975), Wie ein Vogel auf dem Draht/Like a Bird on a Wire (1975, TV), Chinesisches Roulette/Chinese Roulette (1976), Ich will doch nur, dass ihr mich liebt/I Only Want You to Love Me (1976, TV), Satansbraten/Satan’s Brew (1976), Schatten der Engel/Shadow of Angels (1976), Frauen in New York/Women in New York (1977, TV), Bolwieser/The Stationmaster’s Wife (1977, TV), Deutschland im Herbst/Germany in Autumn (1978, doc, segment), Despair (1978), In einem Jahr mit 13 Monden/In a Year with 13 Moons (1978), Die Ehe der Maria Braun/The Marriage of Maria Braun (1978), Despair (1979), Die dritte Generation/The Third Generation (1979), Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980, TV series), Lili Marleen (1981), Theatre in Trance (1981, doc), Lola (1982), Die Sehnsucht der Veronika Voss/Veronika Voss (1982), Querelle (1982)

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Werner Rainer Fassbinder
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