Fassbinder

Started by pookiethecat, June 05, 2003, 10:49:24 PM

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Alethia

Quote from: MyxomatosisOk, so here's the deal.

About a year ago they had a Fassbinder series at the film school near me. I got a chance to see "Ali: Fear Eats the Soul" and I thought it was fucking great. I didn't have time to see any of his other work.

What should I see next then?

the brd trilogy, why does herr r run amok?, and 13 moons

Myxo

Quote from: CinephileA therapist.

.. you have a key around your neck fool!

;)

samsong

The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant is a great Fassbinder follow-up for Ali: Fear Eats the Soul.  Not only a great follow-up, but introduction enough to his style and content, which should "prepare" you for stuff like In a Year of 13 Moons.

analogzombie

I've just recently discovered Fassbinder and I'm quickly absorbing his films. I've also picked up the book Fassbinder's Germany and its quite illuminating. But, man if his films are complete downers. After watching The Merchant of Four Seasons I could have taken a flying leap. Oddly though, In a Year with 13 Moons didn't provoke such a response. At any rate, he's my obsession of the moment.

any suggestions for some of his early films? I've been watching his post Sirk films mainly.
"I have love to give, I just don't know where to put it."

Alethia

love is colder than death and why does herr r run amok? are two early ones that quickly cemented my love for the vast majority of his films...i think whity and martha are kinda early, and theyre pretty good.....beware of a holy whore is rather early i believe, you should see that too its fucking insane...

godardian

Quote from: eward on March 14, 2006, 11:22:13 PM
love is colder than death and why does herr r run amok? are two early ones that quickly cemented my love for the vast majority of his films...i think whity and martha are kinda early, and theyre pretty good.....beware of a holy whore is rather early i believe, you should see that too its fucking insane...

The next one you should see is Fox and his Friends, which is my favorite Fassbinder; and if you haven't seen The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant, that one is essential, too.

Martha is my favorite of the group eward mentions... I think Fassbinder really became Fassbinder AFTER he got his Godard into his Sirk. They were two great tastes that tasted great together.

""Money doesn't come into it. It never has. I do what I do because it's all that I am." - Morrissey

"Lacan stressed more and more in his work the power and organizing principle of the symbolic, understood as the networks, social, cultural, and linguistic, into which a child is born. These precede the birth of a child, which is why Lacan can say that language is there from before the actual moment of birth. It is there in the social structures which are at play in the family and, of course, in the ideals, goals, and histories of the parents. This world of language can hardly be grasped by the newborn and yet it will act on the whole of the child's existence."

Stay informed on protecting your freedom of speech and civil rights.

hedwig

Quote from: godardian on March 14, 2006, 11:58:14 PM
I think Fassbinder really became Fassbinder AFTER he got his Godard into his Sirk.


analogzombie

I just watched Satan's Brew which I found a blistering, brazen mini-masterpiece. Petra is on the way and I've seen Fox and His Friends. So far, In a Year With 13 Moons is my favorite.

Now that Wellspring is gone I wonder if Criterion will be putting out some of the as yet unreleased in the US titles like Despair.
"I have love to give, I just don't know where to put it."

godardian

Quote from: analogzombie on March 15, 2006, 02:45:39 PM
So far, In a Year With 13 Moons is my favorite.

:salute:

Quote from: analogzombie on March 15, 2006, 02:45:39 PMNow that Wellspring is gone I wonder if Criterion will be putting out some of the as yet unreleased in the US titles like Despair.

I've seen Despair, which is an odd Nabokov/Stoppard/Fassbinder amalgam. I'd say it sits with Despair as an odd and/or sod in his oeuvre. Bogarde is awesome, though--I'll see anything with him.

I didn't realize Wellspring was gone....  :(
""Money doesn't come into it. It never has. I do what I do because it's all that I am." - Morrissey

"Lacan stressed more and more in his work the power and organizing principle of the symbolic, understood as the networks, social, cultural, and linguistic, into which a child is born. These precede the birth of a child, which is why Lacan can say that language is there from before the actual moment of birth. It is there in the social structures which are at play in the family and, of course, in the ideals, goals, and histories of the parents. This world of language can hardly be grasped by the newborn and yet it will act on the whole of the child's existence."

Stay informed on protecting your freedom of speech and civil rights.

analogzombie

There's info in the Wellspring thread about the death of their theatrical arm and subsuquent diminishment of their dvd arm thanks to a buy out.


As far as In a Year of 13 Moons in concenred, I was struck by how successful Fassbinder is in making Erwin/Elvira part and parcel to his/her own victimhood. I found myself sympathetic to the character without identifying with, or absolving blame from him/her. It is Elvira's reckless nature that has led her down this path. Although we learn the reasons for her self-transformation and the underlying childhood trauma which defines her, she is still complicit in her final outcome and therefore is a much more human character than most of this sort. It would be easy to paint her as a total victim of circumstance, culture, and people, but Fassbinder doesn't take the easy road. Elvira is completely beleivable person because she is inherently flawed. Even if it is an extreme character it is still a more real character than most writer/directors/actors can conjure up.
"I have love to give, I just don't know where to put it."

godardian

Quote from: analogzombie on March 16, 2006, 04:32:47 PM
There's info in the Wellspring thread about the death of their theatrical arm and subsuquent diminishment of their dvd arm thanks to a buy out.


As far as In a Year of 13 Moons in concenred, I was struck by how successful Fassbinder is in making Erwin/Elvira part and parcel to his/her own victimhood. I found myself sympathetic to the character without identifying with, or absolving blame from him/her. It is Elvira's reckless nature that has led her down this path. Although we learn the reasons for her self-transformation and the underlying childhood trauma which defines her, she is still complicit in her final outcome and therefore is a much more human character than most of this sort. It would be easy to paint her as a total victim of circumstance, culture, and people, but Fassbinder doesn't take the easy road. Elvira is completely beleivable person because she is inherently flawed. Even if it is an extreme character it is still a more real character than most writer/directors/actors can conjure up.

I would add to that, though, that one of Fassbinder's most unique features is that he does consider in a noticeable way the elements of culture, society, and systems of class/economic, racial, and sexual power as they relate to the individuals in his films. I would actually say that many (if not most) films do encourage us to ignore those aspects--Fassbinder does not "absolve" his characters and allows them to be flawed as all human beings are (we see some as more flawed than others and all as more flawed than ourselves, a view to which Fassbinder asks, "Why?"), but he also locates them at a sociopolitical and historical intersection that has to be taken into account as we experience their situations and choices. Power is much more often absolved in mainstream cinema by way of circumventing the topic than individuals are. It is in this area, I think, that Fassbinder connected so powerfully to Sirk, and it is something that most filmmakers seem really afraid to touch (possibly for fear of being branded "political," when of course we all know that culture, which includes film, is political whether its participants are conscious of/want to explicate that fact or not--Fassbinder was one of the few brave enough to grapple with it).

I'm often curious about why it's so much more of a sin to make an explicitly political film with a definite point of view than it is to make the more typical one that wanders through a pseudo-apolitical (i.e., escapist) haze and pretends its characters (and therefore "people," in the view of the film) are self-determined islands that exist in vacuums.... I think it has something to do with the same reason we have the Bush administration in power. Denial, laziness, etc.
""Money doesn't come into it. It never has. I do what I do because it's all that I am." - Morrissey

"Lacan stressed more and more in his work the power and organizing principle of the symbolic, understood as the networks, social, cultural, and linguistic, into which a child is born. These precede the birth of a child, which is why Lacan can say that language is there from before the actual moment of birth. It is there in the social structures which are at play in the family and, of course, in the ideals, goals, and histories of the parents. This world of language can hardly be grasped by the newborn and yet it will act on the whole of the child's existence."

Stay informed on protecting your freedom of speech and civil rights.

analogzombie

Yes, perhaps Fassbinder's greatest talent was locating his characters so firmly in their respective societies and then using them to examine that society while still continuing the drama, or melodrama, of the film. Take for example, Emmi from Fear Eats the Soul, she may be strong enough in her own convictions that she doesn't fall victim to the prejudices that make her family and friends view Ali as a total outsider, but she still picks Hitler's favorite bistro for her wedding lunch, and shows off Ali as if he were some kind of pet. Their exists within her contradictions, as in all of us.
"I have love to give, I just don't know where to put it."

meatwad


analogzombie

Berlin Alexanderplatz has been the focus of a major restoration by the Fassbinder Foundation for some time now. I am excited that its release is enaring.

The Third Generation was suppose to have been released in the US on dvd recently. Anyone seen it yet?
"I have love to give, I just don't know where to put it."

ThurstonPowell

Third Generation is an excellent black comedy.  Of his films already available, I'd put it closest to Satan's Brew in terms of tone and pacing.

Incidentally, this is probably the lowest-profile DVD release from a name director I can think of.  It came out w/ zero fanfare in July from some company called 'Infinity Arthouse' (they sould like some CC/HVE prestige house, but I found nothing upon a google).  I preordered for something like 10 bucks, half-expecting never to receive it (no cover art posted at the time) - I did get it, and it's pretty great.
Did you tell your friend Bernice I'm some kind of jet pilot?