The Film:
Rainer Werner Fassbinder is well known as one of the most influential directors ever, not only in German cinema, but worldwide. He was a massive figure in the rise of 'new wave' German cinema, making a large array of films usually involving gay or lesbian characters (Fassbinder was himself gay), something that was still a taboo. In fact, so many believe it is thanks to him that this 'new wave' became successful that when Fassbinder committed suicide by taking a drugs overdose in 1982, many said it was the end of that cinematic era. This film goes against his usual taboo subject and instead focuses on post-war Germany from the eyes of a feminist.
The Marriage Of Maria Braun was Fassbinder's biggest international box office success. In it, Maria (Hanna Schygulla) marries soldier Hermann Braun (Klaus Lowitsch) who is quickly sent off to the frontline in Russia. When her brother in law is released from a prisoners of war camp and returns home, he confirms that Hermann has been killed. With Germany's economy shattered, Maria decides to use her sexual allure and brains to try and boost herself. She meets French factory owner Karl Oswald (Ivan Desny) by chance in the first class section of a train and soon manages to work her way from being his secretary, to his mistress, and soon enough an extraordinarily successful businesswoman.
One of few Fassbinder films where he entrusted others to write the screenplay (Pea Frohlich and Peter Marthesheimer), The Marriage Of Maria Braun is a superbly written film that is not only a look at a woman's point of view of post-war Germany, but is also a metaphorical attack on German society. The actor's which appear in many of Fassbinder's films give great performances, especially Schygulla in the lead role. Followed by the films Lola and Veronika Voss, you'd be a fool to miss this masterpiece which is only let down by the occasional slow moment. Highly recommended.
Picture:
Arrow Films have presented the film to us with an anamorphic transfer at 1.78:1. Unfortunately this isn't the original aspect ratio as can be had on America's Criterion release (1.66:1), but at the least the print is a nice one. With only a little edge enhancement and grain, there are no big problems (other than the cropping) and this is a transfer that Arrow should be commended for. Shame they decided to to present it wrongly though, dropping their grade down a few notches.
Audio:
Arrow have provided us with a German Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo track. Dialogue is clear throughout as is the music. With this being a dialogue driven film the track we are given is more than adequate though a small upmix to a surround track to benefit a couple of scenes would've been a nice addition. Optional English subtitles have also been provided but beware, they are only there for non-English speaking segments. I doubt it would've cost that much more to add subtitles to the other 5%?
Extras:
We start this extras filled disc with a section called Fassbinder Familia. When you go to this option, you are presented with pictures of 15 people, all of whom have had a good professional relationship with Fassbinder. For each person you get a few notes and then a slideshow. The people involved are:
- Rainer Werner Fassbinder
- Lilo Pempeit
- Gunther Kaufmann
- Irm Hermann
- Volker Spengler
- Hanna Schygulla
- Ulli Lommel
- Margit Carstensen
- Hark Bohm
- Karl Scheydt
- Ingrid Caven
- Harry Baer
- Kurt Raab
- Peer Raben
- Juliane Lorenz
Next up is the featurette The Women of Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Unfortunately this isn't that great of an extra. It is a load of footage of women in Fassbinder's films presented in various categories such as manipulation and victims, and doesn't really give you any interesting information.
The most substantial extra is a documentary entitled Florian Hopf On R.W. Fassbinder. Mainly made up of an interview with Fassbinder touching such subjects as how his opinion of why he makes films has changed with time, his intentions of continuing theatre projects, believing that only himself and Wim Wenders are the only true German directors and why he works so much because of his fear of loneliness, these segments are laced with footage from a few films, most notably Beware Of A Holy Whore. Intriguing and brutally honest.
After this we are treated to one of Fassbinder's short films called The Little Chaos. In this short, three people are trying to sell magazine subscriptions/advertisements unsuccessfully so end up robbing a woman for her money. Presented 4:3.
We finish with a Theatrical Trailer and Booklet with notes by Jim Clark.
