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.

[Christophah Maghen]

Originally Posted by MeMynonsense

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.

Thank you so much for posting memynonsense! I was not only on my way to thinking that Fassbinder fans were over-sensitive, clanish rude sorts like the 3 cretins that posted before you, but that you were going to continue the broken record posts. Like their hat trick of " you bought an expensive set and didn't know anything blah blah blah".

Very insightful that you post that one shouldn't delve into Fellini by starting with "8 1/2", that resonates with me as it was my introduction to the master and I couldn't for the life of me understand why it was considered so great. Lebowski I could never get into as well.

I will try Ali, at some point, also I don't require " breezy" films, I like a huge share of what most would deem ponderous and boring films I actually detest cliffhangers and action.

Thanks again for your intelligent and poignant post memynonsense, to the weasels above this is how a secure confident person rebuffs a naysayer, watch and learn.

[MeMynonsense]

Just to clarify by "breezy" I purely meant absorbing / gripping and not buoyant or cheerful. It’s depressing to be sure but that comes with RWF’s territory.

[Christophah Maghen]

Thanks for the clarification. Using the scientific term of buoyancy to describe a film I love it!

[Ray Jackson]

Originally Posted by MeMynonsense

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.

[Show spoiler]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.

Up until recently, I considered myself to be a burgeoning Fassbinder super fan.

I absolutely adore World On A Wire and Ali: Fear Eats the Soul.

And while I can't say I loved Bitter Tears of PVK, there are some things about it that I really like.

Then I finally saw the much-hyped BRD Trilogy and was somewhat disappointed by it. I didn't like Lola at all. Veronika Voss looks good, but the story fell a bit flat for me. I've heard some people refer to The Marriage of Maria Von Braun as Fassbinder's masterpiece, but to be honest I didn't really connect with it for some reason. I don't know why that is exactly.

I still love Fassbinder, but it definitely made me rethink my willingness to spend $50 on a copy of Berlin Alexanderplatz.

[SpiderBaby]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

but it definitely made me rethink my willingness to spend $50 on a copy of Berlin Alexanderplatz.

Don't rethink. Do.

[Christophah Maghen]

There was a positive to this viewing experience..the video quality was jaw dropping, especially in Merchant.

[SpiderBaby]

Release Date 1-17-2017:



https://www.criterion.com/films/2795...nd-his-friends

Disc Features

New 4K digital restoration, undertaken by the Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation and supervised by cinematographer Michael Ballhaus, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
New interview with actor Harry Baer
New interview with filmmaker Ira Sachs
Excerpt from a 1975 interview with director Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Excerpts from a 1981 interview with composer Peer Raben
Trailer
New English subtitle translation
PLUS: An essay by film critic Michael Koresky

[fdm]

Thought I'd point out there's a version of Baal available from Germany. Fassbinder acts, Schlöndorff directs. It might be the first time it's been available on disc anywhere with English subs. (Not sure whether it's Region B locked or not, but I could check if anybody is interested.)

[SpiderBaby]

Thank ya. Added to OP.

[schlockvalue]

Any word on upcoming restorations? Noticed that LOLA and VERONIKA VOSS are on Filmstruck and MARIA BRAUN has (obviously) been restored, so maybe an upgrade of the BRD Trilogy might happen at some point?

[Yami]

Berlin Alexanderplatz has released in Germany, with a UK release announced by Second Sight for later this year.

[SpiderBaby]

October 9th:

Special Features

New 2K digital restoration by the Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
“Eight Hours Don’t Make a Day”: A Series Becomes a Family Reunion, a 2017 documentary directed by Juliane Maria Lorenz, featuring interviews with actors Hanna Schygulla, Irm Hermann, Wolfgang Schenck, and Hans Hirschmüller
New interview with film scholar Jane Shattuc
New English subtitle translation
PLUS: An essay by scholar Moira Weigel

New cover by Sam Hadley

[SpiderBaby]

Feb 12th 2019

Special Features

High-definition digital restoration by the Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation and Bavaria Media, supervised and approved by director of photography Xaver Schwarzenberger, with DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray
Two documentaries by Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation president Juliane Lorenz: one from 2007 featuring interviews with the cast and crew, the other from 2006 on the restoration
Hans-Dieter Hartl’s 1980 documentary Notes on the Making of “Berlin Alexanderplatz”
Phil Jutzi’s 1931 feature-length film of Alfred Döblin’s novel, from a screenplay cowritten by Döblin himself
Interview from 2007 with Peter Jelavich, author of “Berlin Alexanderplatz”: Radio, Film, and the Death of Weimar Culture
PLUS: A book featuring an essay by filmmaker Tom Tykwer, reflections on the novel by Fassbinder and author Thomas Steinfeld, and an interview with Schwarzenberger

Cover by Eric Skillman

[SpiderBaby]

Jul 9, 2019

Special Features

New 4K digital restorations of The Marriage of Maria Braun and Lola, with uncompressed monaural soundtracks
High-definition digital restoration of Veronika Voss, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
Audio commentaries from 2003 featuring filmmaker Wim Wenders and cinematographer Michael Ballhaus (The Marriage of Maria Braun), film critic and author Tony Rayns (Veronika Voss), and film scholar Christian Braad Thomsen (Lola)
Interviews with actors Hanna Schygulla, Rosel Zech, and Barbara Sukowa
Interviews with cinematographer Xaver Schwarzenberger, screenwriter Peter Märthesheimer, and film scholar Eric Rentschler
Life Stories: A Conversation with R. W. Fassbinder, an interview filmed for German television in 1978
I Don’t Just Want You to Love Me, a feature-length 1992 documentary on director Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s life and career
Dance with Death, a program from 2000 about Ufa studios star Sybille Schmitz, Fassbinder’s inspiration for the character Veronika Voss
Conversation between author and curator Laurence Kardish and film editor Juliane Lorenz
Trailers
PLUS: An essay by film critic Kent Jones and production histories by author Michael Töteberg (Rainer Werner Fassbinder)

Covers by Michael Boland

[SpiderBaby]

Today would have been Fassbinder's 75th birthday.

[SteelyTom]

Originally Posted by SpiderBaby

Jul 9, 2019

Worth a purchase for a Fassbinder near-newbie, versus, say, BTPvK or BA?

I recall seeing Maria Braun during its first US theatrical release and liked it a lot.

[Gacivory]

Originally Posted by SteelyTom

Worth a purchase for a Fassbinder near-newbie, versus, say, BTPvK or BA?

I recall seeing Maria Braun during its first US theatrical release and liked it a lot.

I would say Bitter Tears or the Berlin Trilogy. I don’t think Berlin Alexanderplatz should be a first viewing for Fassbinder newbies.

[sawdustandtinsel]

Originally Posted by SteelyTom

Worth a purchase for a Fassbinder near-newbie, versus, say, BTPvK or BA?

I recall seeing Maria Braun during its first US theatrical release and liked it a lot.

You would probably like those if you liked The Marriage of Maria Braun. My personal favorite of his is Fox and His Friends, I did a double bill of it with Manila in the Claws of Light and it played really well. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul is a good one for a newbie, especially if you like All That Heaven Allows.

[SpiderBaby]

June 11th 2024

https://www.criterion.com/films/27974-querelle

BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
Restored high-definition digital master, approved by director of photography Xaver Schwarzenberger, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
New interview with critic Michael Koresky on director Rainer Werner Fassbinder's aesthetics and visual storytelling
Rainer Werner Fassbinder—Last Works, a 1982 documentary by Wolf Gremm
Trailer
English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
PLUS: An essay by critic Nathan Lee

New cover by Astra Zero