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Surprised and mortified that In a Year with 13 Moons was left off 6 lists ... and a few of those lists went up to 20. Maybe the late plugs for 13 Moons were too late, but I thought it was getting enough praise and momentum the past few weeks that I didn't do a rewatch and write-up. For me, 13 Moons is an intense experience with an amazing lead by Volker Spengler, while Fassbinder harnesses his techniques to masterfully capture the confusion and joys and horrors. 13 Moons and Veronika Voss are easily my two favorite Fassbinders, they seem more fully realized, coherent, vibrant. After those, there are plenty of Fassbinders I like or enjoy, but really the order of my next 10 could be scrambled and equally acceptable.

Otherwise 17 lists is impressive.

I need to give the film another shot, but the last time I watched 13 Moons (when the Fantoma DVD came out in 2004) I absolutely hated it. Hated it almost as much as I hated Satan’s Brew. To paraphrase something from a recent Julian Barnes essay I just read, I probably “watched it badly.” If so many people here voted for it, there is clearly something to the film I was missing.

I think Veronika Voss was the first or second Fassbinder I ever saw (on the MGM/UA VHS with the “IN GLORIOUS BLACK & WHITE” banner at the top, rented from the neighborhood video store circa 1996-1997) and it has always remained at the top for me. If I ever make a movie, I will rip it off shamelessly.

Unfortunately, I could only go on the dozen I'd seen and couldn't find time to watch any films I didn't know, especially Effi Briest. There are always going to be blind spots with a career this prolific (even though it only lasted 15 years or so!)

1. Veronika Voss
2. Fox and his Friends
3. In a Year of 13 Moons
4. Martha
5. Fear Eats the Soul
6. The Marriage of Maria Braun
7. Chinese Roulette
8. The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant
9. Berlin Alexanderplatz
10. Lola
11. Querelle
12. World on a Wire

My list was substantially similar.
Except I really dislike Petra von Kant and am lukewarm about Fox.

thirtyframesasecond wrote: Tue Jan 04, 2022 9:18 am There are always going to be blind spots with a career this prolific (even though it only lasted 15 years or so!)

Actually I've seen all but four of his available films, and I only avoided those now because I gathered I wouldn't be missing much:

Pioneers in Ingolstadt
Despair (I swear I've seen this before, but I haven't rated it on IMDb so I can't be certain)
Lili Marleen
Theater in Trance

I like those top two.

Theater in Trance is briefly interesting for its 70s Godardian-posturing before revealing itself as vacuous, though Die Niklashauser Fart is an infinitely more engaging late-60s Godard emulation, and not only because one of those Godard periods is richer than the other

How did the people here who saw Jailbait manage to see it?

It's on YouTube (without English subs), so you need to be fluent in oral German or good at reading Italian!

My list ended up as:

1. FONTANE EFFI BRIEST
2. BERLIN ALEXANDERPLATZ
3. CHINESE ROULETTE
4. NORA HELMER
5. IN A YEAR WITH 13 MOONS
6. MARTHA
7. THE BITTER TEARS OF PETRA VON KANT
8. THE MERCHANT OF FOUR SEASONS
9. GERMANY IN AUTUMN segment
10. BREMEN FREEDOM
11. FEAR OF FEAR
12. MOTHER KUSTERS GOES TO HEAVEN
13. BEWARE OF A HOLY WHORE
14. VERONIKA VOSS
15. I ONLY WANT YOU TO LOVE ME
16. WORLD ON A WIRE
17. THE AMERICAN SOLDIER
18. GODS OF THE PLAGUE
19. WOMEN IN NEW YORK
20. WILDWECHSEL

Rayon Vert wrote: Tue Jan 04, 2022 9:52 pm How did the people here who saw Jailbait manage to see it?

Back channels, though I needed to jump through some hoops to figure out how to convert the liner-notes subs to an srt file, which was a long process for me (I'm not tech savvy, probably a piece of cake for others). PM me if you're interested in it

Thanks T. I should have asked you while the project was going on - thought about it when you wrote it up then it slipped my mind.

Rayon Vert wrote:How did the people here who saw Jailbait manage to see it?

If anyone wants to watch it, I can help with a file and a subs file.