Il matrimonio di maria braun fassbinder biography

1979 coating by Rainer Werner Fassbinder

The Wedding of Maria Braun (German: Die Ehe der Maria Braun) equitable a 1979 West German spectacle film directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder. The film stars Hanna Schygulla as Maria, whose wedding to the soldier Hermann vestige unfulfilled due to World Armed conflict II and his postwar confinement.

Maria adapts to the realities of postwar Germany and becomes a wealthy industrialist's mistress behaviour staying true to her passion for Hermann.

The Marriage dominate Maria Braun was one regard Fassbinder's more successful works limit shaped the image of nobleness New German Cinema. It has also been acclaimed by diverse critics as one of Fassbinder's most profound films.^[5] It interest the first installment of government BRD Trilogy, followed by Lola (1981) and Veronika Voss (1982).

Plot

During an Allied bombing endure in 1943, Maria Berger arm Hermann Braun get married. Say publicly next day, Hermann returns keep the Eastern front. At glory war's end, Maria is phonetic that Hermann died. To crutch herself and her mother paramount grandfather, she does sex dike in an underground bar turn allows only Allied soldiers significance patrons.

She begins a satisfaction with an African-American soldier, Valuation, who supports her and faction family. Although she refuses exchange marry Bill because of laid back devotion to Hermann, she has a tender sexual relationship set about him that results in gestation. On the day she tells Bill of the pregnancy, Hermann returns; he had been well-organized Russian war prisoner.

A dispute ensues, and Maria kills Valuation. At her trial, Hermann testifies that he killed Bill.

Maria's child is stillborn. She tells Hermann she will find preventable and buy them a dwelling to live in once settle down is released from prison. She seduces Karl Oswald, a comfortable industrialist, becoming his mistress spreadsheet his personal secretary.

To magnanimity surprise of Oswald and circlet lawyer, Senkenberg, she displays elegant ruthless instinct for business, shutting down deals with her sexual wiles and taking hard-line stances opposed labor movements. Maria keeps Hermann informed of her actions, counting the affair, reminding him stray she is becoming wealthy status has bought a house fetch them.

Oswald, who is savagely ill, visits Hermann and offers to make him and Mare heirs to his wealth provided Hermann deserts Maria after fillet release. Neither man tells Mare of their agreement. Upon top release, Hermann emigrates to Canada and sends Maria a expose rose each month to call up her he still loves grouping. Maria blames herself for rulership disappearance and treats everyone scathingly, including her mother and Assassin.

After Oswald dies in 1954, Hermann returns to Maria. What because Oswald's will is read, Tree learns of the agreement Bravo and Hermann made. Maria queue Hermann briefly argue about their sacrifices for each other.

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When she lights a smoke, she accidentally ignites gas give back from an open burner. Though a radio announcer excitedly describes the German football team's overcoming in the World Cup, Mare and Hermann die in rectitude explosion.

Cast

Production

Writing and pre-production

The truth for The Marriage of Part Braun can be traced terminate Fassbinder's collaboration with Alexander Kluge on the unrealized television post The Marriage of our Parents (Die Ehen unserer Eltern), which was developed after the depreciative success of the omnibus filmGermany in Autumn.

Fassbinder worked vanity a draft screenplay with Klaus-Dieter Lang and Kurt Raab trip presented it in the summertime of 1977 to his longtime collaborator Peter Märthesheimer, who kismet that time was working translation a dramaturge at the State Film Studios. In August 1977, Märthesheimer and his partner Legume Fröhlich, a professor of daft and pedagogics, were commissioned extremity write a screenplay based exact the draft.^[6] Although it was Märthesheimer's and Fröhlich's first stagecraft, their knowledge of Fassbinder's deeds allowed them to match jurisdiction characteristic style and structure.^[7] Fassbinder changed only a few trivialities in their screenplay, including irksome dialogue and the ending.

In place of of dying by suicide generate a car accident, Maria dies in a gas explosion, desertion it unclear whether it was intentional.^[8]

The film's producer was Fassbinder's longtime collaborator Michael Fengler add-on his production company Albatros Filmproduktion.^[6] Fengler planned to start on the qui vive the film in the head half of 1978, as Fassbinder's next project Berlin Alexanderplatz was scheduled for June.^[9] Fassbinder was embroiled in a controversy peek at his stage play Der Müll, die Stadt und der Tod and was not ready hyperbole start shooting the film, and above he withdrew to Paris, to what place he worked on the scenario for Berlin Alexanderplatz.^[10] Fengler was dreaming of an international falling star cast for the film.

Boon his suggestion, Fassbinder and Fengler visited Romy Schneider and responsibility her to play Maria. Owed to Schneider's alcohol problems, light-mindedness, and demands, the role was then given to Hanna Schygulla, her first collaboration with Fassbinder in several years.^[11]Yves Montand too showed interest in the album, but wanted to play Hermann and not, as Fassbinder boss Fengler suggested, Oswald.

As decency role of Hermann was by this time promised to Klaus Löwitsch, Montand was ultimately not offered well-ordered role.^[9]

Production

From the start, the stooping of The Marriage of Region Braun was precarious. Albatros Filmproduktion contributed only 42,500 DM, illustriousness public broadcaster Westdeutscher Rundfunk 566,000, the German Federal Film Game table 400,000, and the distributor 150,000.

This forced Fengler to godsend another financing partner. He offered Hanns Eckelkamp's Trio-Film a apportionment in the film in Dec 1977.^[12] Fengler had promised Fassbinder's Tango-Film 50% of the vinyl profits, but by offering Trio-Film a share in the peel, he effectively oversold the rights; only 15% remained with Fassbinder.

Fassbinder subsequently called Fengler spick gangster and litigation against Fengler continued even after Fassbinder's death.^[13]

Shooting began in January 1978 creepycrawly Coburg. Bad-tempered and quarrelsome, Fassbinder shot the film during grandeur day and worked on picture Berlin Alexanderplatz script at night.^[14] To sustain this schedule closure consumed large quantities of cocain, supplied by the production superintendent Harry Baer and the incident Peter Berling.

According to Berling this was the main trigger the film went over mark down, as the cash for primacy cocaine was coming from Fengler.^[13]

In February the budget was motility 1.7 million DM, and prestige two most expensive scenes, illustriousness explosions at the beginning increase in intensity at end of the tegument casing, had not yet been participate in.

By this time Fassbinder challenging learned about Fengler's deal top Eckelkamp and the overselling fend for the film rights. He matte deceived and broke with Fengler. He demanded the status do paperwork co-producer, obtained an injunction be realistic Fengler and Eckelkamp, fired ascendant of the film crew, on the brink the shooting in Coburg better the end of February, come first moved to Berlin, where stylishness shot the last scenes.^[12] Primacy biographer Thomas Elsaesser called rectitude production of the film "one of Fassbinder's least happy experiences" and Berlin "one of loftiness decisive self-destructive episodes in Rainer's life".^[11]

Distribution and reception

Release

While also development for the production of Berlin Alexanderplatz, Fassbinder worked with fell editor Juliane Lorenz on probity editing and post-production of The Marriage of Maria Braun.

Representation failure of Despair at authority 1978 Cannes Film Festival spurred him to prepare an send print overnight and to verdict the film on 22 Hawthorn to German film producers detect a private screening. The entanglement, attended by Horst Wendlandt, Sam Waynberg, Karl Spiehs, Günter Rohrbach, and Filmverlag der Autoren's largest part shareholder Rudolf Augstein, among balance, was a success.^[15] Eckelkamp endowed a further 473,000 DM acquaintance pay the film production's debts and became the sole host of the rights to class film.^[16] He negotiated a delivery deal with United Artists, outmaneuvering the Filmverlag der Autoren, which usually distributed Fassbinder's films.^[17]

Hoping defer The Marriage of Maria Braun might be successful at position 1979 Berlin International Film Celebration, Eckelkamp started a marketing operations and decided to release depiction film theatrically in March.

Appointed by Eckelkamp, the author Gerhard Zwerenz novelized the film. Expert was published in several hebdomadal installments in the magazine Der Stern over three months gaze in March, increasing public put under a spell in the film.^[18] The film's official premiere was on 20 February at the 29th Songster International Film Festival.

The Westward German theatrical release was shrink 23 March. At the Songster festival, Hanna Schygulla won leadership Silver Bear for Best Performer, which did not satisfy Fassbinder, who expected to win interpretation Golden Bear.^[19]

Contemporary reception

German film critics responded very favorably to distinction film, praising its combination quite a lot of artistic value with mass impact.

In the weekly newspaper Die Zeit Hans-Christoph Blumenberg called understand "the most accessible (and for this reason most commercial) and mature go of the director".^[20] Karena Niehoff wrote in the Süddeutsche Zeitung that The Marriage of Tree Braun "is a charming take even amusing film, at character same time extraordinarily artful, theatrical and full of twists settle down turns".^[21]

Many critics praised Schygulla.

Pretense the Süddeutsche Zeitung Gottfried Knapp wrote that Fassbinder gave an alternative a magnificent opportunity to brag her talent, and that equal finish character, emotions, charm, and animation had an enormous effect.^[22] Fantastic critics also praised Schygulla. Timely The New Yorker, David Denby called her "an improbable wet through between Dietrich and Harlow".^[23] She was the runner-up for birth National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress ensure year, losing to Sally Area.

François Truffaut wrote in 1980 in Cahiers du cinéma deviate with this film Fassbinder "has broken out of the snowy tower of the cinephiles", delay the film is "an recent work of epic and songlike qualities" influenced by Godard'sContempt, Poet, Wedekind, and Douglas Sirk, sports ground that its idea of marvellous man who looks on joe public and women with equal partiality is particularly touching.^[21] The Country critic Jean de Baroncelli discipline the film's allegorical qualities transparent Le Monde, writing that hurtle presents Maria with "shining simplicity" as an allegory of Frg, "a character who wears crude and expensive clothes but has lost her soul".^[22]

Roger Ebert prep added to the film to his Mass Movies collection.^[24]

The New York Times placed the film on spoil Best 1000 Movies Ever list.^[25]

Commercial success and aftermath

The Marriage forestall Maria Braun was also spruce up commercial success.

From its respite until October 1979 more outweigh 900,000 tickets were sold meticulous West Germany, and it ran for up to 20 weeks in some theaters.^[2][26] In Westside Germany alone the film grossed more than $3 million.^[2][11] Talk to the same year of untruthfulness German release the distribution deals for 25 countries were negotiated.

In August 1981 the integument was Fassbinder's first to litigation in East German theaters.^[26] Shamble the United States, the ep was the highest-grossing German husk ever and grossed $2.6 million.^[3]

The film was not the authorized German submission to the 51st Academy Awards for Best Barbarous Language Film.

Instead Hans Helpless. Geißendörfer's The Glass Cell was chosen. Almost a year late the film was nominated lack a Golden Globe Award espousal Best Foreign Language Film clichйd the 37th Golden Globe Fame, but this was overshadowed lump the success of Volker Schlöndorff's The Tin Drum at significance 52nd Academy Awards.^[27] The advertizement success of The Marriage holdup Maria Braun strengthened Fassbinder's contract position in his subsequent projects.

He received a financing pact for one of his favourite projects, based on Pitigrilli's narration Cocaine, and was able round increase the budget for Berlin Alexanderplatz. Several German commercial tegument casing producers expressed interest in fabrication films with him. Luggi Waldleitner produced Fassbinder's Lili Marleen deal with Schygulla in the main duty.

Horst Wendlandt produced the connect other films in the BRD Trilogy, Lola and Veronika Voss. Fassbinder's success also allowed him to realize his last endeavour, Querelle, which was co-financed indifferent to Gaumont.^[28]

As Fengler had oversold representation rights to the film, Fassbinder's profit share was an launch question.

Eckelkamp saw himself primate the sole owner of specify rights, but sent Fassbinder 70,000 DM in 1982 to assuage him. After Fassbinder's death, cap mother and heiress Liselotte Eder revived his claims, but Eckelkamp was unsympathetic. In the compass of legal proceedings Eckelkamp was ordered in 1986 to asseverate the film's finances to magnanimity newly founded Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation.

Eckelkamp's Trio Film illegal a budget of almost 2 million DM, additional marketing give back of 1 million and precise net profit of 1 meg. When Trio-Film was ordered cut short pay Fassbinder's heirs 290,000 DM, Eckelkamp refused. At the Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation's request, Threesome Film had to declare insolvency in 1988. In the road of the continuing legal court case, the OberlandesgerichtDüsseldorf certified in 1990 that Fassbinder was not topping co-producer of the film.

Probity Federal Court of Justice upheld that ruling, but also ruled that Fassbinder's heirs were advantaged to a share of integrity film's profits.^[29] Today the Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation owns shuffle rights to the film.^[30]

References

Notes

Bibliography

• Märthesheimer, Peter; Pea Fröhlich (1997). Archangel Töteberg (ed.). Die Ehe flaw Maria Braun: Ein Drehbuch wool coating Rainer Werner Fassbinder (in German).

  Belleville Verlag. ISBN . (screenplay)

• Zwerenz, Gerhard (January 1979). Die Ehe snow-white Maria Braun (in German). Goldmann Verlag. ISBN . (novel based show the film)
• Joyce Rheuban, ed. (January 1986). The Marriage of Mare Braun: Rainer Werner Fassbinder, director.

  Rutgers Films in Print. Rutgers University Press. ISBN .

Further reading

• Anton Kaes. From Hitler to Heimat: Honesty Return of History as Film. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Hold sway over, 1989.

External links