I Love Films

The filmography of Rainer Werner Fassbinder, with some brief comments. I might do this sort of thing for other directors, but if i don't, it'll be good just doing this guy's amazing 14 year run of workaholic excellence ....:)


1. This Night - a lost short film
2. The City Tramp - a short beguiling poetic evocation of quiet despair.
3. A Little Chaos - a short little ensemble piece where these bored kids come up with money making schemes. Catchy end credit song - I Can't Control Myself by The Troggs.
4. Love is Colder than Death - 1st feature, very static, the cinema of Jean Marie Straub was an influence.
5. Gods of the Plague - the feel of the 70's is strong here, as is the power of the sideburn ....
6. Katzelmacher - a very static experiment, not recommended for newcomers to RWF
7. Why Does Herr R Run Amok - The first all out masterpiece, perfect to lend out to those who know how to treat discs, maybe there will be a cinephile version of Netflix sometime, if so, check it out all those reading this long after it's poster is gone ....*_^
8. Rio das Mortes - notable for a scene where Rainer and Hanna dance to Elvis.
9. The Coffeehouse - need on dvd, have only seen the beginning on youtube. Very sparse, with bewitching Viennese waltzes, and dramatic dialogue.
10. Whity - Rainer's homage to the Western, some deeply bizarre stuff going on it, and the cameraman Michael Ballhaus who later worked for Scorsese is astounding.
11. The Niklashausen Journey - this has some wonderful moments, but not the rock band scene, it's there for a purpose, it's just that it's not as nice as everything else.
12. The American Soldier - very slow storytelling that also has a fluidity to it.
13. Beware of a Holy Whore - film opens with Werner Schroeter telling a joke. It's about the making of Whity, one of the great movies about moviemaking.
14. Pioneers in Ingolstadt - a minor film, a treat for Fassbinder fans, cuz ya just get to hang out with these people again, Irm Hermann really shines here.
15. The Merchant of Four Seasons - a major breakthrough, usually he did at least 3 films a year, for this year he mainly just did this, a clue as to how special it was.
16. The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant - was my entry into this world, made a deep impression. I recall hearing Fassbinder being mentioned in a Werner Herzog commentary, and i made a mental note of it, at that time i prejudged him as only vaguely interesting, that it would be like watching tough guy mafia type of stuff.
17. Jailbait - needs to be on dvd, saw it once on youtube without subtitles.
18. Eight Hours Don't Make a Day - Ordered this to see it before 2017 ends, it is due to being in some weird point in my life that i didn't get it as soon as it was released. It is interesting to know this is like a German Coronation Street, and i am interested in seeing that show too. Composed of 5 feature length segments, it promises to be funny. The guy who played the evil Reinhold in Berlin Alexanderplatz plays a normal relateable character too!!!! Must see stuff in my books *_*
19. Bremen Freedom - one of those hard to find titles.
20. World on a Wire - his homage to sci fi, and it is wunderbar!!
21. Nora Helmer - need on dvd, seen on youtube, it is essential stuff, based on Ibsen's play A Doll's House and features Margit Carstensen, the only true rival to Hanna Schygulla.
22. Martha - Margit shines here, one of of my faves, Fassbinder's brand of melodrama is best seen in this middle period of his.
23. Ali:Fear Eats the Soul - a remake of All That Heaven Allows, and is a vast improvement, the first to star Brigitte Mira, hands down my favorite elderly lady in all of Fassbinder cinema. She was a fantastic singer too, i've heard 2 on youtube.
24. Effi Briest - A quiet and dignified experience.
25. Fox and His Friends - my least favorite, but still it has it's merits. The ending is depressing, well the whole thing is, but there's also a sentimental thing that trickles through it all that doesn't seem as effective as his other masterpieces.
26. Like a Bird on a Wire - need on dvd, hard to find.
27. Mother Kusters Goes to Heaven - Brigitte Mira returns with a vengeance, love it!
28. Fear of Fear - great companion piece to Martha.
29. I Only Want You to Love Me - a very personal tv movie, i find the title a little cringy though.
30. Satan's Brew - his homage to comedy, one of his wildest most hysterical achievements.
31. Chinese Roulette - the one i popped in tonight, owing to a new acquaintance here, thanks bud!!
32. The Stationmaster's Wife - a fave, and an essential Kurt Raab performance, for Raab fans, see this along with #'s 7 and 30, he also has a good minor role in # 13.
33. Women in New York -needs to be on dvd, hard to find, seen images of it, looks great, very campy, like Jack Smith underground kind of thing.
34. Despair - in english, and it suffers for that, technically great, it just would've sounded so much better in German!!
35. Germany in Autumn - this is an omnibus film under the aegis of Alexander Kluge, Fassbinder's part is at the beginning.
36. The Marriage of Maria Braun - here we have the beginnings of his late phase where the films have bigger production values and have a lavish glittering quality, this is rightly so one of his most celebrated films, the start of the BRD trilogy, and was seen when i was new to his stuff way back in 2006.
37. In a Year of 13 Moons - if i had to pick a favorite, this would be it, simultaneously savage and heartfelt.
38. The Third Generation - this film pulsates with an anarchic energy.
39. Berlin Alexanderplatz - his magnum opus, a 15 plus hour mini series, life changing, the story of Mieze played by Barbara Sukowa was and is the most emotional experiences i've had in film watching, and the surreal pathos in the crazy epilogue will always be with me.
40. Lili Marleen - need it on dvd, it's a bit hard to get, but have seen it on youtube, and it is dazzling.
41. Lola - the 3rd in the BRD trilogy, very colorful, loved it right off the bat, even though it took me 5 or so viewings to finally understand what really went on there. Sukowa acts her butt off, and it's a marvel to behold.
42. Theatre in Trance - need on dvd, there is a german dvd of it, but i've not yet gotten it. As far as i know it isn't a major work.
43. Veronika Voss - the 2nd in the BRD trilogy, a mini masterpiece, a fellow member here a few months ago checked it out, and noticed a plot hole in it, i promised to view it again to see, sorry for the delay fellow cinephile, thanks though for watching.
44. Querelle - the last one, Juliane Lorenz did the finishing touches upon release, one thing she did right was to include Rainer's musical motif that was there from the beginning in The City Tramp - Handel's Organ Concerto.

He starred in many a film too, and produced and so on, there's 3 that are in my collection

45. Baal - the best of the three directed by Volker Schlondorff, no Fassbinder fan should be deprived of seeing this. On the first dvd i ever got for him, it had a a documentary with clips of it in it, one scene feels more gritty than it is in the version i eventually got, in the film there's a pop song on the soundtrack, but in the documentary clip there's dialogue and no music, which gave it a more gritty feel.
46. Tenderness of the Wolves - Kurt Raab in the leading role, directed by Ulli Lommel, lots of familiar faces makes it a treat.
47. Kamikaze 89 - a very silly outlandish sci fi adventure, Rainer is the lead dressed in leopard skin, it is something to behold, plot is to me extremely complex, directed by Wolf Gremm.