I would have never had thought of this but I saw the Harmony Korine thread. Now as far as I can tell, the guy has only two claims to fame. He is/ was(?) married to Chloe Sevigny and he got Werner Herzog to play a tyrant dad in Julian Donkey-Boy This led me to a thread concerning Herzog and Rainer Werner Fassbinder, some kind of enfant terrible who directed more movies than the number of years that he lived.

I've probably seen 15 Fassbinder flicks; that's only about one-third, but he was obviously a master of speed at lighting and shooting film and getting raw emotion from his actors. Off the top of my head, I would have to include Marriage of Maria Braun, The Merchant of Four Seasons, Veronika Voss, The Stationmaster's Wife and Mother Kusters Goes to Heaven as some of the highlights. Unfortunately, I haven't seen Lili Marleen, Lola or the 15-hour epic, Berlin Alexanderplantz. On the debit side, I'd put Querelle (although it must be better when not dubbed) and The Bitter Tears of Petra Van Kant. Most of the others are better than they are worse.

Now, Herzog made two insane epics set in Latin America: Aguirre, The Wrath of God and Fitzcarraldo, both allegedly based on true, insane individuals. The capper to this story was when Herzog made what was probably his most "entertaining" film, about his Aguirre and Fitzcarraldo star, Klaus Kinski, My Best Fiend, where both personalities actively discuss different ways they tried to kill each other! Of course, for better or worse, probably that pair's most famous collaboration is the remake of Nosferatu with Isabelle Adjani, perhaps the most beautiful woman in the world now that Catherine Deneuve is getting up there.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: mark f,

quote:

---

Originally posted by mark f:
I would have never had thought of this but I saw the Harmony Korine thread. Now as far as I can tell, the guy has only two claims to fame. He is/ was(?) married to Chloe Sevigny and he got Werner Herzog to play a tyrant dad in _Julian Donkey-Boy_ This led me to a thread concerning Herzog and Rainer Werner Fassbinder, some kind of enfant terrible who directed more movies than the number of years that he lived.

I've probably seen 15 Fassbinder flicks; that's only about one-third, but he was obviously a master of speed at lighting and shooting film and getting raw emotion from his actors. Off the top of my head, I would have to include _Marriage of Maria Braun, The Merchant of Four Seasons, Veronika Voss, The Stationmaster's Wife and Mother Kusters Goes to Heaven_ as some of the highlights. Unfortunately, I haven't seen _Lili Marleen, Lola_ or the 15-hour epic, _Berlin Alexanderplantz_. On the debit side, I'd put _Querelle_ (although it must be better when not dubbed) and _The Bitter Tears of Petra Van Kant_. Most of the others are better than they are worse.

Now, Herzog made two insane epics set in Latin America: _Aguirre, The Wrath of God_ and _Fitzcarraldo_, both allegedly based on true, insane individuals. The capper to this story was when Herzog made what was probably his most "entertaining" film, about his Aguirre and Fitzcarraldo star, Klaus Kinski, _My Best Fiend_, where both personalities actively discuss different ways they tried to kill each other! Of course, for better or worse, probably that pair's most famous collaboration is the remake of _Nosferatu_ with Isabelle Adjani, perhaps the most beautiful woman in the world now that Catherine Deneuve is getting up there.

---

Actually Korine has many other accomplishments under his belt. he's the primary screenwriter to film maker Larry Clark (Kids, Bully, Ken Park). Oh, and the fact hes a terrific director, isnt that bad, either.

marriage of maria braun is awesome. that's the only one I've seen - can you recommend a "next best or better" one?

quote:

---

Originally posted by Hattoori_Hanzo:
marriage of maria braun is awesome. that's the only one I've seen - can you recommend a "next best or better" one?

---

I'd try to watch any that present themselves. You can get a complete list of his films at imdb.com. "Maria Braun" was apparently the first of his post-WW II trilogy, which includes "Lola" and "Veronika Voss." I still haven't seen the former, darn it, but I would recommend the latter; it does show up periodically on cable. The only ones I would pass on are the two I mentioned earlier, or at least steer clear until you see the better ones.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by mark f:
I would have never had thought of this but I saw the Harmony Korine thread. Now as far as I can tell, the guy has only two claims to fame. He is/ was(?) married to Chloe Sevigny and he got Werner Herzog to play a tyrant dad in _Julian Donkey-Boy_ This led me to a thread concerning Herzog and Rainer Werner Fassbinder, some kind of enfant terrible who directed more movies than the number of years that he lived.


Now, Herzog made two insane epics set in Latin America: _Aguirre, The Wrath of God_ and _Fitzcarraldo_, both allegedly based on true, insane individuals. The capper to this story was when Herzog made what was probably his most "entertaining" film, about his Aguirre and Fitzcarraldo star, Klaus Kinski, _My Best Fiend_, where both personalities actively discuss different ways they tried to kill each other! Of course, for better or worse, probably that pair's most famous collaboration is the remake of _Nosferatu_ with Isabelle Adjani, perhaps the most beautiful woman in the world now that Catherine Deneuve is getting up there

Ah....Werner Herzog!! I've been a fan for many years. My favorites of his include "Heart of Glass," (where he had the entire cast hypnotized for the entire making of the film); "The Mystery of Kasper Hauser" and "Strozek," both starring Bruno S., who was a schizophrenic man. I heard him speak in person once (Werner Herzog, that is), and he turned out to be surprisingly conventional, considering the unique subjects and techniques of his films.

Aguirre compares favorably to Apocralypse Now both in terms of theme and politics, and at little more than an hour and half, more to the point. Visually gorgeous.

Bitter Tears is equally unique: a sexual psychodrama involving four (4) women in a (1) room for a little over 2 hours. There is a dialectic (see Hegel) of power (Freud) and control (Foucult), not to mention Sirk (Douglas). Essential Fassbinder. Formal, not realistic, but perverse and true as only human nature can be. Did I mention cruel?

180 degree away, but equally great is Ali: Fear Eats the Soul. No way to describe how powerful this film is. European film would be different without Fassbinder. He said, "America has colonized our subconscious." And he didn't meant just in films, but as manifested in the post-war German experience. Neither did he meant it in a nice way. Much of his films were about power, those who have it, those who don't. Who does what to whom.

His metaphors were sex and politics.

quote:

---

Originally posted by wong828:
Aguirre compares favorably to Apocralypse Now both in terms of theme and politics, and at little more than an hour and half, more to the point. Visually gorgeous.

Bitter Tears is equally unique: a sexual psychodrama involving four (4) women in a (1) room for a little over 2 hours. There is a dialectic (see Hegel) of power (Freud) and control (Foucult), not to mention Sirk (Douglas). Essential Fassbinder. Formal, not realistic, but perverse and true as only human nature can be. Did I mention cruel?

180 degree away, but equally great is Ali: Fear Eats the Soul. No way to describe how powerful this film is. European film would be different without Fassbinder. He said, "America has colonized our subconscious." And he didn't meant just in films, but as manifested in the post-war German experience. Neither did he meant it in a nice way. Much of his films were about power, those who have it, those who don't. Who does what to whom.

His metaphors were sex and politics.

---

Wong: your comments on Ali: Fear Eats the Soul are perfect. Back when "Far From Heaven" (Todd Haynes) came out, some reviewers compared it to "All that Heaven Allows" (Douglas Sirk, 1956) and "Ali: Fear Eats the Soul." I saw all three, and "Ali" was by far the most powerful, the most honest, and the only one that did not pull its punches. It did make me want to explore Fassbinder's work.

Fassbinder has an unstinting eye for human weaknesses that verges on masochism. I think this give his work an honesty that is uncomfortable for most people, and certainly the American audience used to sentimental if not sugarcoated endings.

Never mind that human failing (or even the religious metaphysics of the "fortunate fall") is the crux of much of what is, in the West, the basis of most great art and literature. Maybe our refusal to acknowledge this is the distinction between the naive and the sentimental, and the reason for the accusation against Fassbinder that his work is dark and decadent. This has always been part of the Germanic sensibility, Brecht and Weill, Gunther Grass, expressionism, and even in ex-pats like Sirk, Wilder and Lang you find this undercurrent, but buried under melodrama, comedy or noir.

It's interesting how it transforms elsewhere. A good example of Fassbinder's influence on some of the new European filmmakers is Francois Ozon, particularly in his Water Drops On Burning Rocks or the dispassionate gaze of Under the Sand. Worth checking out.

Incidently, Chicago Film Festival, Film Center of the Art Institute and Roger Ebert were some of the early American advocates of the New German cinema, and Fassbinder and Herzog in particular.