Monday, May 22, 2006
BRD TRILOGY
Rainer Werner Fassbinder was a prolific director. He liked series.
If it ever comes out on DVD, we will see his teevee series Berlin Alexanderplatz (1983)which is a NYTimes Best 1176 'film'.
Another shorter series, the BRD Trilogy (BRD=Bundesrepublik Deutchsland or West Germany) was made to depict people dealing with life at the cusp of change; the economic 'miracle' in that nation after WWII. All women.
The Best Film List includes only The Marriage of Eva Braun (1979); a controversial choice.
So, natch!
I got all three of them.
Today we saw
which is based in The Blue Angel.
It is great to watch and a little hard to swallow plotwise. The nightclub where Lola sings and tricks is an obvious but incomplete metaphor. At times, I thought it an actual fantasy kind of setup where all of society was sitting together in the whorehouse. A lot like Genet.
You cannot discuss a Fassbinder film without bringing in his other films and many other directors that he either copied or paid tribute to with his work.
It is a film-geeks paradise.
Me, I just want to watch them.
This was garishly, yet beautifully lit. It was funny a lot of the time. Never tragic, except in a funny way.
The most appealing guy is the most corrupt.
Lola herself is really well done including the near Dietrich singing.
It is a 4 out of Netflix5. I know that Braun is better than this one but I do not mind having seen it now.
