In 1981, ambulance Rainer Werner Fassbinder died at the age of 37, and holding a bloody manuscript for a film about Rosa Luxemburg’s life. During the preceding decade, remedy the manic film director had already created almost 50 films for the silver screen. Fassbinder’s death marked the end of an era, leaving West Germany struggling to understand its history in absence of its most relentless critic.
Through rare interviews, those close to Fassbinder talk with honesty and love about what it was like to live and work with the drugaddicted political critic. The film paints a picture of a charismatic tyrant whose life goal was to break the postwar taboos of his country. Neither people nor ideas were saved from Fassbinger’s sharp critique. Sexual norms, Hitler’s legacy, bourgeois culture, and leftist terrorism – they all received the same treatment.
But the unconditional and extreme lifestyle came with a high price: series of strained personal relationships and a complete burnout. The documentary features a comprehensive selection of archival material that effectively guides us into the expansive web of work, love, and obsession that was to become his fate.
Saara Tamminen / Translation: Sanna Parikka
Photo: Rainer Werner
Language: German
Subtitles: English
- Director: Annekatrin Hendel
- Country: Germany
- Year: 2015
- Length: 92 min
- Age limit: K16
- Format: DCP
- Cinematography: Martin Farkas
- Editing: Jörg Hauschild
- Audio: Patrick Veigel
- Music: Christian "Flake" Lorenz
- Production: Maria Wischnewski / IT WORKS! Medien
Showtimes:
- Cinema Sõprus: Friday 29.01 - 19:00