10 Things I Learned: Baal
By March 29, 2018
Film Info
- West Germany
- 1970
- 84 minutes
- Color
- 1.37:1
- German
- Spine #914
Volker Schlöndorff transported Bertolt Brecht’s 1918 debut play to contemporary West Germany for this vicious experiment in adaptation, seldom seen for nearly half a century. Oozing with brutish charisma, Rainer Werner Fassbinder embodies the eponymous anarchist poet, who feels that bourgeois society has rejected him and sets off on a schnapps-soaked rampage. Hewing faithfully to Brecht’s text, Schlöndorff juxtaposes the theatricality of the prose with bare-bones, handheld 16 mm camera work, which gives immediacy to this savage story of rebellion. Featuring a supporting cast drawn from Fassbinder’s troupe of theater actors that also includes Margarethe von Trotta, Baal demonstrates the uncompromising vision of its director, a trailblazer of the New German Cinema.
Cast
| Baal | Rainer Werner Fassbinder |
| Ekart | Sigi Graue |
| Sophie | Margarethe von Trotta |
| Mech | Günther Neutze |
| Emilie | Miriam Spoerri |
| Johanna | Irmgard Paulis |
| Johannes | Marian Seidowsky |
Credits
| Director | Volker Schlöndorff |
| Produced by | Hellmut Haffner, Hans Prescher and Volker Schlöndorff |
| Play by | Bertolt Brecht |
| Teleplay by | Volker Schlöndorff |
| Cinematography by | Dietrich Lohmann |
| Production design by | Hanna Axmann |
| Edited by | Peter Ettengruber |
| Music by | Klaus Doldinger |
Disc Features
DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION:
- New 2K digital restoration, supervised by director Volker Schlöndorff, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
- Interviews from 1973 and 2015 with Schlöndorff
- New conversation between actor Ethan Hawke and playwright Jonathan Marc Sherman about the play and adaptation
- New interview with actor and filmmaker Margarethe von Trotta
- New interview with film historian Eric Rentschler
- New English subtitle translation
- PLUS: An essay by critic Dennis Lim
New cover by Rainer Fetting
Current Posts
Photo Galleries
Video
Fassbinder’s Anarchic Spin on a Classic Brecht Role
March 27, 2018
New German Cinema filmmaker Margarethe von Trotta shares her memories of working with Rainer Werner Fassbinder on the set of Volker Schlöndorf’s 1970 film Baal. Read more »
Video
Ethan Hawke and Jonathan Marc Sherman’s Closet Picks
March 22, 2018
Longtime friends and collaborators Ethan Hawke and Jonathan Marc Sherman, who stopped by last year to contribute to our new edition of Baal, took a trip into our closet to pick up some favorite . . . Read more »
Film Essays
Baal: The Nature of the Beast
By March 20, 2018
The careers of three iconic German artists—Bertolt Brecht, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, and Volker Schlöndorff—converged in this unflinching portrait of destructive genius. Read more »
Film Essays
Baal: The Nature of the Beast
By March 20, 2018
The careers of three iconic German artists—Bertolt Brecht, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, and Volker Schlöndorff—converged in this unflinching portrait of destructive genius. Read more »
Photo Galleries
Video
Fassbinder’s Anarchic Spin on a Classic Brecht Role
March 27, 2018
New German Cinema filmmaker Margarethe von Trotta shares her memories of working with Rainer Werner Fassbinder on the set of Volker Schlöndorf’s 1970 film Baal. Read more »
Video
Ethan Hawke and Jonathan Marc Sherman’s Closet Picks
March 22, 2018
Longtime friends and collaborators Ethan Hawke and Jonathan Marc Sherman, who stopped by last year to contribute to our new edition of Baal, took a trip into our closet to pick up some favorite . . . Read more »
Film Essays
Baal: The Nature of the Beast
By March 20, 2018
The careers of three iconic German artists—Bertolt Brecht, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, and Volker Schlöndorff—converged in this unflinching portrait of destructive genius. Read more »
