Seventeen Fassbinder Films Rated! He was astonishingly productive for over fourteen years.
“Fassbinder Revisited: A Cinematic Journey” reveals three masterworks of cinema: The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant, Ali: Fear Eats the Soul, and Veronika Voss. And two for television: The Stationmaster’s Wife (also known as Bolweiser) and the 14-episode Berlin Alexanderplatz. Anyone with an interest in cinema should enjoy these works of art. The others are of variable quality and depend on how much you love Fassbinder and your mood. All, however, are of interest. Enjoy!
| 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 | 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 | Hanna Schygulla Elizabeth Trissenaar Barbara Sukowa | 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 | 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 |
