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MichaelB wrote:Estonian and Flemish subtitles, I reckon.

Don't be daft it's Esperanto and Finnish.

Amazon.de tells Untertitel: Englisch.

NABOB OF NOWHERE wrote:

MichaelB wrote:Estonian and Flemish subtitles, I reckon.

Don't be daft it's Esperanto and Finnish.

You are both irritating the consumer here…

Lincoln Center kicks off a comprehensive retrospective in late May. Schedule for Part One is up.

hearthesilence wrote:Lincoln Center kicks off a comprehensive retrospective in late May. Schedule for Part One is up.

Lord only knows when or if those early TV works will get a home video release, so don't miss Bremen Freedom and Nora Helmer if you're in the vicinity. I've only seen the former, and it's pretty remarkable, with Fassbinder employing early video effects to create a look that's unique in his oeuvre (unless some even more obscure film I haven't seen did the same thing). The film is already quite hypnotic, and the effects tip it over into psychedelia.

Can't say much for the t-shirt but the remainder of the retrospective, which kicked off Friday, should be interesting.

Check out the new restoration for The Merchant of Four Seasons. I saw it over the weekend and it looks beautiful, the film grain and especially the color. The film itself is also excellent - Hoberman and Sarris were both big fans of it, and it's quite possibly a masterpiece in my book.

I saw MARTHA on the big screen today.

I had started ti a few years ago and given up 30 minutes in. To be fair, the first 30 minutes are quite a slog.
However, it picks up afterwards. A quote on the poster likened it to vampire movies, and there's definitely a connection to them throughout. While it still had some problems of its own, I would still rate this as a better Fassbinder. As far as his "hardcore" melodramas go, I prefer this over Petra von Kant, Maria Brain, and Mutter Küster.

Saw Martha for the first time at Lincoln Center earlier this year, and it's definitely one of my favorite early Fassbinder films. I had seen the 360 shot before, probably in a Fassbinder documentary, and recall being floored by it, so it was a nice surprise when this turned out to be the source.

HD-MERCHANT officially announced by Criterion.

Bit surprised. This holds an important spot in his filmography, as it is his first color AND "melodrama" film (if I am not being lied to/mistaken).
However, I would have thought a different one would make the cut first. Lola, Veronika Voss...

Is there a way to figure out which of his films got proper HD restorations so far?

Why is Wildwechsel / Jail Bait / Wild Game (TV 1973) so hard to find? .... and I've only seen "Shadow of Angels" which Fassbinder is one of the lead actors on VHS which is way out of print! If only a Regular DVD box set would come out similar to the Blu-Ray box Arrow U.K. will be releasing in March that would include such rarities after all he did act in other directors films ..... one can only dream!

I recently read "The Anarchy of Imagination" and found it to be underwhelming. What's a good book about Fassbinder's life and work?

Ferdico Felni wrote:Why is Wildwechsel / Jail Bait / Wild Game (TV 1973) so hard to find?

The writer of the original stage play, Franz-Xaver Kroetz, hated the film so much that he won't allow it to be shown, and the film can't be released in any form without his approval. Which is a shame, as it's a great film!

ALLCAPSAREBASTARDS wrote:I recently read "The Anarchy of Imagination" and found it to be underwhelming. What's a good book about Fassbinder's life and work?

I remember Christian Baard Thomsen's book being pretty good, but it's been a long time since I've read it. I think I mainly appreciated it for dealing with practically the whole of his filmography, a lot of which wasn't very accessible at the time. That's no longer as true today, so the book may not be as essential as I once thought it was. I believe it also includes sections on his stage work and his actor-only gigs.

I've long been curious about the Fassbinder book edited and co-written by Tony Rayns, partly because I so reflexively identify him as "the Asian-cinema guy" even though I'm fully aware of stuff like his video essay on Criterion's Arabian Nights, or his articles on non-Asian films in Sight and Sound. I have no idea how that one is, but given that it was published when Fassbinder was still alive, it obviously isn't comprehensive, and I'm guessing it doesn't get much into his biography.

Some years ago i invested some time into reading about Fassbinder. Almost everything in german language so this might only be interesting to few around here - i am not sure about available translations. After Fassbinders death most of his collaborators put out books about their relationship to RWF. If you knew about the specific "group-love-relationships" before, its very interesting (and the intentions are very much obvious with each release) how individual each books point of view unfolds. Famous examples are Juliane Lorenz Das ganz normale Chaos and on the other hand Kurt Raab/Karsten Peters Die Sehnsucht des Rainer Werner Fassbinder. The latter much more personal than the former (-> RWF Foundation…). There is Harry Baers Schlafen kann ich, wenn ich tot bin, There are plenty of mopnographs that i am leaving out here but one of the more recent ones is Jürgen Trimborns Ein Tag ist ein Jahr ist ein Leben (that i did not find very interesting i.e. adding up to whats allready known). Christian Braad Thomsens Rainer Werner Fassbinder was/is out of print for some time. I bought it anyway as it was recommanded by scholary sources. Same goes for Thomas Elsaessers book Rainer Werner Fassbinder, that i found rather academic, focusing too much on film analysis for my taste. By far the most (quality!) entertaining and rewarding book for me was Die 13 Jahre des RainerWerner Fassbinder by the one and only Peter Berling. As an insider to New German Cinema (and Euro cinema at that time in general), some may know him from his collaboration with Herzog and even more interesting, as an interview partner to Alexander Kluge. This one is again more personal but combined with his knowledge and grandezza of story telling, absolutly recommanded.
I must admit that with such an "outgoing" person like RWF, the more gossipy storys are hillarious. Meeting Andy Warhol in NYC and/or Claudia Cardinale (with Helmut Berger in the bedroom) at her Villa at Costa Smeralda are just two examples.

accatone wrote:Some years ago i invested some time into reading about Fassbinder. Almost everything in german language so this might only be interesting to few around here - i am not sure about available translations. After Fassbinders death most of his collaborators put out books about their relationship to RWF. If you knew about the specific "group-love-relationships" before, its very interesting (and the intentions are very much obvious with each release) how individual each books point of view unfolds. Famous examples are Juliane Lorenz Das ganz normale Chaos and on the other hand Kurt Raab/Karsten Peters Die Sehnsucht des Rainer Werner Fassbinder. The latter much more personal than the former (-> RWF Foundation…). There is Harry Baers Schlafen kann ich, wenn ich tot bin, There are plenty of mopnographs that i am leaving out here but one of the more recent ones is Jürgen Trimborns Ein Tag ist ein Jahr ist ein Leben (that i did not find very interesting i.e. adding up to whats allready known). Christian Braad Thomsens Rainer Werner Fassbinder was/is out of print for some time. I bought it anyway as it was recommanded by scholary sources. Same goes for Thomas Elsaessers book Rainer Werner Fassbinder, that i found rather academic, focusing too much on film analysis for my taste. By far the most (quality!) entertaining and rewarding book for me was Die 13 Jahre des RainerWerner Fassbinder by the one and only Peter Berling. As an insider to New German Cinema (and Euro cinema at that time in general), some may know him from his collaboration with Herzog and even more interesting, as an interview partner to Alexander Kluge. This one is again more personal but combined with his knowledge and grandezza of story telling, absolutly recommanded.
I must admit that with such an "outgoing" person like RWF, the more gossipy storys are hillarious. Meeting Andy Warhol in NYC and/or Claudia Cardinale (with Helmut Berger in the bedroom) at her Villa at Costa Smeralda are just two examples.

Is the Berling book from the 80s? If so, I think it was translated as Love Is Colder Than Death (it was credited to Robert Katz & Peter Berling), which I've read and which is entertainingly trashy. Anybody who's seen any of Berling's interviews with Kluge know that he's a gifted raconteur.

This must be a different book. The one i am talking about is from the early ninties and has 600+ pages.
As its out of print i will link to amazon:
http://www.amazon.de/Die-Jahre-Rainer-W ... 378570643X" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Maybe the book you are talking about is some kind of preface? Anyway, both should be of similar tone. Very funny indeed.

Somebody better start working on a Fassbinder biopic and get Angus T. Jones ("Two and a Half Men") involved.

jorencain wrote:Somebody better start working on a Fassbinder biopic and get Angus T. Jones ("Two and a Half Men") involved.

If he's still ultra religious he probably won't want to play someone as "immoral" as Fassbinder.

I recommend this bloke off the Jeremy Kyle show (Britain's closest equivalent to Jerry Springer).



Granted, he probably can't act, but that never stopped Fellini.

lacritfan wrote:

jorencain wrote:Somebody better start working on a Fassbinder biopic and get Angus T. Jones ("Two and a Half Men") involved.

If he's still ultra religious he probably won't want to play someone as "immoral" as Fassbinder.

He seemed to be able to get along with Charlie Sheen, so I doubt he would be too surprised.

Does anyone know if RWF's documentary Theater in Trance (1981) is available with English subs?

Film Comment's digital collection (excellent price) looks promising; 11 articles, 85 pages - a modest but interesting collection.

Has anyone read Peucker's Companion to Fassbinder?





Also, MOMA is screening Berlin Alexanderplatz over several days here in New York beginning September 13. Wish I could attend the entire run but I'll have to settle for the concluding episodes. What am I saying? I've got to make the initial episodes. The first part, The Punishment Begins, is stunning and what initially made me an admirer of Fassbinder.

Restored version of Eight Hours Don't Make a Day premiering at Berlinale

Obviously this will just go in the pile of forthcoming RWF Criterion releases but this certainly seems like a good centerpiece for the inevitable second Arrow set of the new restos

Does Arrow have rights to "Berlin Alexanderplatz"?
Is the second set of Arrow Fassbinders a certainty (apart from timing)?