| Genre: | Art/Foreign |
| Year: | 1980 |
| Rating: | ? |
| Length: | 15hrs |
| Country: | Germany |
| Cast: | Gunter Lamprecht, Barbara Sukowa, Gottfried John, Barbara Valentin, Hanna Schyguilla, Ivan Desny, Volker Spengler and others. |
| Credits: | Directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder (In German w/English Subtitles, color, 16mm) |
Synopsis
Berlin Alexanderplatz is the summa of Fassbinder's art and the culmination of his lifelong relationship with Alfred Doblin's monumental novel of Berlin in the 1920's, a book which he said was "embedded in my mind, my flesh, my body as a whole, and my soul." Originaly produced as a 13 part made-for-TV movie (though Fassbinder always intended it to reach the cinemas), Berlin Alexanderplatz captures in sweeping detail the decandence of the Weimer Republic in which Nazism had already begun to spread. Fassbinder employs a dark and claustrophobic settings, over one hundred directors, and thousands of extras to deal with his favorite themes: the destructive pressures of society and the inevitability with which people exploit and hurt those they love. And at 15 hours, it comes closer than most film experiences to the richness that great novels offer, and concludes with a 111 minute long dream sequence epilogue unlike anything Fassbinder has ever made. Quite simply, a masterpiece.
Reviews
"Berlin Alexanderplatz is a Mount Everest of the cinema! Guinter Lamprecht's Frantz Biberkopf will be the measure by which all future screen acting will be judged...Indeed, the entire ensemble is as seamless an expression of life-giving art as has ever graced the stream." -Andrew Sarris
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