The BRD Trilogy – Criterion Blu-ray Review (1 Viewer)

[t1g3r5fan]

By the end of the 1970’s, German director Rainer Werner Fassbinder had already made at least 2 dozen films and TV series and had established himself as a major voice in the New German Cinema movement. However, he was to embark on one of his most ambitious projects – The BRD Trilogy – a series of three films focused on three different women set in the years following World War II and the economic miracle that West Germany was going through. Previously released by Criterion on DVD, they’ve brought the series back into print with a Blu-ray upgrade.



The Marriage of Maria Braun (1978)



Released: 23 Mar 1979
Rated: R
Runtime: 120 min




Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Genre: Drama



Cast: Hanna Schygulla, Klaus Löwitsch, Ivan Desny, Gisela Uhlen
Writer(s): Pea Fröhlich (screenplay), Peter Märthesheimer (screenplay), Rainer Werner Fassbinder...

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[titch]

I have to take my hat off to you Mychal - there is little interest in arthouse and non-American films on this forum, so thank you very much for this. I picked this excellent package from Criterion up during the summer Barnes and Noble sale and have recently seen Fassbinder's postwar trilogy for the first time. Hanna Schygulla's performance in The Marriage of Maria Braun is sensational. The visuals in Lola are really impressive. I found these Fassbinder films easier to get through than usual. I screened The Bitter Tears Of Petra Von Kant to two young German students in July, who had never even heard of Fassbinder, let alone seen anything remotely like that film before. I had warned them in advance that they were going to see something completely different to mainstream linear film-making. They found it a very memorable experience and said afterwards that it was rare to think about a film long after it had concluded. They will certainly never forget it!

Maybe you will review Criterion's recent The Koker Trilogy by Kiarostami? Another extremely rewarding release that has had zero comments by members so far on the forum.

 

[bujaki]

I posted my very positive comments on the individual films, which I'd never seen before, on the thread "What's on your daily viewing list"? Thumbnail reviews of my reactions. Schygulla is one of my muses.