AFTER HIS UNTIMELY DEATH IN 1982, AN ENTIRE MICROECONOMY OF GERMAN FILMMAKING COLLAPSED OVERNIGHT
DIRECTOR: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
BOTTOM LINE: A landmark in both Queer Cinema and the New German Cinema, writer/director/producer/ Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s examination of the dynamics of a lesbian love triangle was shot, in true Fassbinder fashion, over a few hours in der Wunderkind’s apartment. However, “Petra von Kant” is as influential today as in 1972. Based on Fassbinder’s play, it takes place entirely in the home of its eponymous heroine, an outrageously spoilt fashion designer. When a new sexually fluid young thing arrives from Australia (Hanna Schygulla), Petra (Margit Carstensen) begins to turn her attention away from her loyal friend and caretaker Marlene (Irm Hermann), leading the viewer down avenues of emotional codependency you never knew existed. If the plot sounds familiar, it was remade in 1998 by Lisa Cholodenko as “High Art” with Ally Sheedy, Patricia Clarkson, and Radha Mitchell.
SORRY TOM ROBINSON. BOTH “BITTER TEARS’ AND “TAXI ZUM KLO” ARE IN COLOR NOT B&W!
Singer/songwriter Tom Robinson immortalized the movie in his song “Atmospherics” (co-written with Peter Gabriel) from his 1984 album “Hope and Glory.” He pairs it with another gay classic, Frank Ripploh’s “Taxi zum Klo,” from 1981, which is outside the scope of this article and will be covered another day. Presumably, for the purpose of rhyming, Gabriel and Robinson say that both movies are in black and white. Sorry, guys, they are both in color.
Cinematography by Michael Ballhaus. Production Design by Kurt Raab. Maja Lemcke designed the costumes, and they are astonishing.
Seventeen Fassbinder Films Rated! He was astonishingly productive over a period of fourteen years.
| NUMBER | YEAR | FILM TITLE | Actors | RATING | CINEMATOGRAPHER | NOTES |
| 1 | 1969 | Love is Colder than Death | Ulli Lommel Hanna Schygulla Ingrid Caven | B- | Dietrich Lohmann | Ingrid Caven was married to Fassbinder from 1970-1972. Fassbinder’s first of numerous feature collaborations with composer and onetime lover Peer Raben. |
| 2 | 1970 | Why Does Herr R. Run Amok? | Kurt Raab Ingrid Caven | B | Dietrich Lohmann | Co-directed and co-written by Michael Fengler |
| 3 | 1971 | Beware a Holy Whore | Hanna Schygulla Eddie Constantine | B- | Michael Ballhaus | |
| 4 | 1972 | The Merchant of Four Seasons | Hans Hirschmuller Hanna Schygulla Irm Hermann Kurt Raab | B | Dietrich Lohmann | |
| 5 | 1972 | The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant | Margit Carstensen Hanna Schygulla Irm Hermann Eva Mattes | A+ | Michael Ballhaus | Fassbinder’s masterpiece |
| 6 | 1974 | Ali: Fear Eats the Soul | Brigitte Mira El Hedi ben Salem Barbara Valentin Irm Hermann | A- | Jurgen Jurges | |
| 7 | 1974 | Effi Briest | Hanna Schygulla | B- | Dietrich Lohmann | |
| 8 | 1975 | Fox and His Friends | Michael Rainer Fassbinder Karlheinz Bohm | B+ | Michael Ballhaus | |
| 9 | 1977 | The Stationmaster’s Wife | Elizabeth Trissenaar Kurt Raab Udo Keir | A- (the uncut TV version) | Michael Ballhaus | Made for German TV Later, an inferior cut version was released in cinemas. Alternative title “Bolweiser.” The first Fassbinder movie to be edited by his partner for the last five years of his life, Juliane Lorenz. |
| 10 | 1978 | Despair | Dirk Bogarde | C | Michael Ballhaus | Screenplay by Tom Stoppard Based on the novel by Vladimir Nabokov Fassbinder’s first English-language film. |
| 11 | 1978 | In the Year of 13 Moons | Volker Spengler Ingrid Caven | C | Rainer Werner Fassbinder | Made in response to the suicide of Fassbinder’s lover Armin Meier |
| 12 | 1979 | The Marriage of Maria Braun | Hanna Schygulla | B | Michael Ballhaus | |
| 13 | 1980 | Berlin Alexanderplatz | The third film in the BRD trilogy. This is a loose adaptation of Heinrich Mann’s “Professor Unrat,” which Josef von Sternberg previously adapted as “The Blue Angel.” | A- (the uncut TV version | Xaver Schwarzenberger | Fourteen-episode West German TV series. Released theatrically in the United States. Also broadcast on PBS, Bravo and Channel 4. Based on the novel by Alfred Doblin. |
| 14 | 1981 | Lili Marleen | Hanna Schygulla Giancarlo Giannini Udo Kier | B- | Xaver Schwarzenberger & Michael Ballhaus | The first film in the BRD trilogy. |
| 15 | 1981 | Lola | Barbara Sukowa Armin Mueller-Stahl | C- | Xaver Schwarzenberger | The third film in the BRD trilogy. This is a loose adaptation of Heinrich Mann’s “Professor Unrat,” which Josef von Sternberg previously adapted as “The Blue Angel.” |
| 16 | 1982 | Veronika Voss | Rosel Zech | A | Xaver Schwarzenberger | The second film of the BRD trilogy. |
| 17 | 1982 | Querelle | Brad Davis Franco Nero | C | Xaver Schwarzenberger | Based on “Querelle of Brest” by Jean Genet |
65 Queer Films Made Under the Hays Code (1934-1967) Part One. – TheBrownees
65 Queer Films Made Under the Hays Code (1934-1967). Part Two. – TheBrownees
65 Queer Films Made Under the Hays Code (Table) – TheBrownees
45 Queer Films from 1967-1976: Queer Cinema Comes Out – TheBrownees
