Maria (Hanna Schygulla) marries Hermann Braun in the last days of World War II, only to have him disappear in the war. Alone, Maria uses her beauty and ambition to prosper in Germany’s “economic miracle” of the 1950’s. Fassbinder’s biggest international box-office success and the first part of his “postwar trilogy,” The Marriage of Maria Braun is a heartbreaking study of a woman picking herself up from the ruins of her own life, as well as a pointed metaphorical attack on a society determined to forget its past.
Cast
| Maria Braun | Hanna Schygulla |
| Hermann Braun | Klaus Löwitsch |
| Karl Oswald | Ivan Desny |
| Mother | Gisela Uhlen |
| Betti Klenze | Elisabeth Trissenaar |
| Willi Klenze | Gottfried John |
| Senkenberg | Hark Bohm |
| Bill | George Byrd |
| Doctor | Claus Holm |
| Hans Wetzel | Günter Lamprecht |
| Grandpa Berger | Anton Schiersner |
| Red Cross nurse | Sonja Neudorfer |
| Train conductor | Volker Spengler |
| Vevi | Isolde Barth |
| Mrs. Ehmke | Lilo Pempeit |
| American at the conference | Bruce Low |
| American on the train | Günther Kaufmann |
| Prosecuting attorney | Karl-Heinz von Hassel |
| Justice of the Peace | Hannes Kaetner |
| Notary | Kristine de Loup |
Credits
| Producer | Michael Fengler |
| Screenplay | Peter Märthesheimer and Pea Fröhlich |
| From a story by | Rainer Werner Fassbinder |
| Dialogue by | Pea Fröhlich, Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Peter Märthesheimer |
| Cinematography | Michael Ballhaus |
| Production Design | Norbert Scherer |
| Costume designer | Barbara Baum |
| Sound | Jim Willis and Milan Bor |
| Film editors | Juliane Lorenz and Franz Walsch |
| Music | Peer Raben |
| Makeup by | Anni Nöbauer |
| Production manager | Martin Häussler |
| Director | Rainer Werner Fassbinder |
by Kent Jones
Sep 29, 2003
People say that drugs killed Rainer Werner Fassbinder, but after taking another look at his films and his writings, I have a different idea. He once said, famously, that he was trying to construct a house with his films, which is hard work. Many filmmakers have left their own houses half-finished...
by Michael Töteberg
Sep 29, 2003
Fassbinder had long dreamed of a “German Hollywood film.” He sought not only success with the audience, but also professionalism. The auteur film in its purest form is an attempt to abolish the division of labor: the filmmaker represents in his own person the director, the scriptwriter, and the...
