The Marriage of Maria Braun
Die Ehe der Maria Braun
Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Germany, 1943. Maria and Hermann get married amid the falling bombs, the day before Hermann leaves for the Russian front. At the end of the war, Maria is a hostess in a bar frequented by Americans. Hermann is believed dead, but reappears to find his wife in the arms of G.I. The soldier is killed and Herman sent to prison. Maria courageously waits for her husband...
With : Hanna Schygulla, Klaus Löwitsch, Ivan Desny, Gottfried John, Hark Bohm, Günter Lamprecht, George Byrd
Screenplay : Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Pea Fröhlich, Peter Märthesheimer
Image : Michael Ballhaus
Editing : Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Juliane Lorenz
Decors : Helga Ballhaus
Music : Peer Raben
Screenplay : Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Pea Fröhlich, Peter Märthesheimer
Image : Michael Ballhaus
Editing : Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Juliane Lorenz
Decors : Helga Ballhaus
Music : Peer Raben
Production : Albatros Filmproduktion, Fengler Films, Filmverlag der Autoren, Tango Film, Trio Film & Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR)
Distribution: Carlotta Films
Distribution: Carlotta Films
Maria Braun is seen as the embodiment of post-war Germany, forced into prostitution to survive and then later as an actor in the economic miracle. "In a society in which the problem of individual happiness is crushed and erased by the "common effort", Maria is seen as a pirate of private happiness, an anarchist of love" (Rainer Werner Fassbinder). The film explores the fate of the women who, while the men were away killing, made sure that life went on. Fassbinder pays tribute to their courage without judging their weaknesses. With Veronika Voss and Lola the film is part of a trilogy, a depiction of the reconstruction of Germany after the war. The characters struggle with the inner dramas of the period where the demons of Nazism and the economic miracle exist simultaneously.