RW Fassbinder: C/D, S/D, Y/DA-Y/DA

i always get that mixed up with capra's 'bitter tea of general yen.'

still unavailable on DVD alas!

Going to see WOAW at the New Beverly tonight.

RIP Günther Kaufmann, muse-lover who acted in 14 RWF films

http://www.dw.de/dw/article/0,,15945872,00.html

That whole thing about him falsely confessing to killing the accountant is pretty crazy.

aw, r.i.p.

wow @ the false confession!!

yeah, didn't know anything about that, whoa.

I forgot to wish RWF a happy birthday ;_;

Hoberman on the limbo of RWF's American fate:

http://www.movingimagesource.us/articles/the-single-antidote-to-thoughts-of-20120628

watching Berlin Alexanderplatz.

fuck, it's good.
the alination vs. the pathetic search for (distorded) warmth and tenderness is shown brilliantly by Fassbinder.
oh, and the use of lightning and space.
oh, and the acting.

great Hoberman piece, thanks for the link

The anti-auteurist Pauline Kael, whose reign as America’s most influential film commentator roughly coincided with Fassbinder’s career

oh irony, further compounded by one of his 70s champions being Vincent Canby who was widely derided as a fuddy-duddy a few years later

From the piece above:

Kluge appeared to be a more pedantic Godard, Straub seemed a lighter Bresson.

I hope Hoberman has changed his mind on this: Kluge is quite an original, and there is nothing remotely light (Bressonian or not) about Straub-Huillet.

so RWF starred in a Volker Schlondorff TV film of Brecht's Baal, and we're going to see it.

http://www.fandor.com/blog/daily-baal-is-back

reactions on Baal

http://www.fandor.com/keyframe/daily-berlinale-2104-diary-2

the Houellebecq film looks interesting.

Like to think Baal will get a week's release at the cinemas over here.

http://lightbox.time.com/2014/01/21/filmmaker-as-photographer-still-life-with-rainer-werner-fassbinder/

Has anyone ordered the catalogue?

http://www.shop-filmmuseum.de/epages/61390111.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/61390111/Products/b_308_engl

I am very tempted to do so..

Fassbinder's Top 10 Pop Musicians

1. Elvis Presley
2. Bob Dylan
3. Rolling Stones
4. Leonard Cohen
5. The Platters
6. Kraftwerk
7. Roxy Music
8. The Beatles
9. Velvet Underground
10. Comedian Harmonists

You think we don't know who The Comedian Harmonists are?

Well I don't!

Must a German/US thing

No, they are not that well known here either. For some reason I was under the impression that you spoke German and might be more familiar with them. There was a movie about them in the late 90s I think.

and at least one CD compilation too

in case you need to pick up some vegetables at the Merchant of the Four Seasons'

http://filmsociety.myshopify.com/collections/shop/products/fassbinder-limited-edition-tote-bag

I was going to revive today: I'm on Episode Seven of Berlin Alexanderplatz

skip to the coda

^smart aleck

http://www.criterion.com/films/27953-the-bitter-tears-of-petra-von-kant

so it's Baal

http://www.filmlinc.com/films/on-sale/baal

The restauration of World on a Wire will be shown in Copenhagen on sunday. It will be my first Fassbender.

i am surprised! well worth seeing, not "major."

it is an anomaly in his cv but man does it look great

Bitter Tears... getting the Criterion treatment too early next year

Sooo many Fassbender films, overwhelming to start with. But if I like it, I'll probably check out the major ones as well.

Frederick, the best way is to dip in. Watch whatever's available. I went on a huge spree ten summers ago as the movies became available on DVD.

actually i found WoaW to be not much of an anomaly! He is his own genre: SF dreamworld, Genetian dreamworld, miserabilist postwar opiumworld, etc.

And see on a big screen whenever possible, esp w/ Ballhaus as DP.

one approach (tho we have more stuff available now than when Canby wrote, such as TV work like WoaW):

http://www.nytimes.com/1982/10/03/movies/film-view-a-beginner-s-baedeker-to-the-genius-of-fassbinder.html

I'd rate Fear of Fear and Ali higher but, yeah, judicious.

Well, there doesn't seem to be a single region 2 english-language blu-ray of a Fassbinder-film, but there is the 'commemorative collection' dvd-box, which is amazingly cheap (vol 1 is nine films for 12 £ on amazon). Reviews say video quality is variable, but apparantly the most well-known look good. Anyone who has them and can vouch for them?

actually i found WoaW to be not much of an anomaly! He is his own genre:

can't really argue w that, and I'm sure you're more of an expert than I. I've only seen Berlin Alexanderplantz, WoaW and Fear Eats the Soul. In general I prefer Herzog.

Werner Schroeter is the only director I'd compare Fassbinder to, working in Germany at that time.

1st stop Fassbinder is Ali, as wonderful as that is it feels like a stop for Year in 13 Moons.. and Bitter Tears... WoaW could work if you don't like him. If you do its not essential but its something you'll want to get around someday.

Not much to be gained from comparing them, they don't really have anything in common that I can see. (xp)

WoaW is an anomaly in that it's the only Fassbinder to bore me.

Aha. Haven't seen it.

I've seen ones that aren't very good but I wouldn't say they bored me... "Rio Das Mortes" is pretty dull, mind you.

I don't think Herzog and Fassbinder are similar, they were just contemporaries, New German Cinema etc.

xp

haha, I just noticed that the Lincoln Center series has that next month and i'd never heard of it. xp