The Official Rainer Werner Fassbinder Films on Blu-ray Thread

[MeMynonsense]

Originally Posted by Christopher Morgan

I tried. Ordered the Arrow set, blind, never had seen any Fassbinder films.

Started with Merchant of Four Seasons. Overall depressed feeling was very strong, performances at time lessened the believability of the film. Watched Beware a Holy *****...hated it, pompous, boring..trash. Attempted to watch The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant last night and turned it off after 20 minutes...it is VERY rare that I don't watch a film through to completion and I've sat through some stinkers.

I guess Fassbinder isn't for me. The films feel like amateurish trash hiding behind a facade of high art, but without any of the entertainment value of most trash. All the joy has been sucked out. Bland, boring trash.

Before you set the boxset ablaze or hawk it off on eBay, I’d advise you to give Ali: Fear Eats the Soul a spin.
It’s arguably Fassbinder’s most accessible work and provides a wonderful introduction to his prejudiced and morally-corrupt cinematic world, filled with cynical and manipulative characters. It also happens to be one of his best films.
I remember my first viewing, it was the breeziest 90 mins I had spent before the TV screen.
You can move over to Maria Braun from there if you like, equally brilliant IMO.

While I admire Merchant of Four Seasons and unabashedly love Petra von Kant, I wouldn’t recommend either to RWF newcomers.

Tastes vary and definitions of “entertainment” are always up for debate but most directors (especially art-house) have their safe jumping-off / initiation points.
You wouldn’t introduce someone to Bergman with Persona or Fellini w/ 8½ or even the Coens w/ Lebowski now, would you?

Give it a shot, who knows you might end up liking some of this “bland, boring trash” after all.