Search a film or person :
FacebookConnectionRegistration
Rainer Werner Fassbinder is a Actor, Director, Scriptwriter, Producer, Director of Photography, Editor, Production Design, Sound and Cinematography Allemand born on 31 may 1945 at Bad Wörishofen (German)

Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Rainer Werner Fassbinder
If you like this person, let us know!
Nationality German
Birth 31 may 1945 at Bad Wörishofen (German)
Death 10 june 1982 (at 37 years) at Munich (German)

Rainer Werner Fassbinder ([ˈʀaɪ̯nɐ ˈvɛʁnɐ ˈfasˌbɪndɐ]; 31 May 1945 – 10 June 1982) was a German film director, screenwriter, and actor. He is one of the most important figures in the New German Cinema.

Fassbinder maintained a frenetic pace in filmmaking. In a professional career that lasted less than fifteen years, he completed forty feature length films; two television film series; three short films; four video productions; twenty-four stage plays and four radio plays; and thirty-six acting roles in his own and others’ films. He also worked as an actor (film and theater), author, cameraman, composer, designer, editor, producer and theater manager.

Underlying Fassbinder's work was a desire to provoke and disturb. His phenomenal creative energy, when working, coexisted with a wild, self-destructive libertinism that earned him a reputation as the enfant terrible of the New German Cinema, as well as being its central figure. He had tortured personal relationships with the actors and technicians around him who formed a surrogate family. However, his pictures demonstrate his deep sensitivity to social outsiders and his hatred of institutionalized violence. He ruthlessly attacked both German bourgeois society and the larger limitations of humanity.

Fassbinder died on 10 June 1982 at the age of 37 from a lethal cocktail of cocaine and barbiturates. His death has often been cited as the event that ended the New German Cinema movement.

Biography

Fassbinder had sexual relationships with both men and women. He rarely kept his professional and personal life separate and was known to cast family, friends and lovers in his films. Early in his career, he had a lasting, but fractured relationship with Irm Hermann, a former secretary whom he forced to become an actress. Fassbinder usually cast her in unglamorous roles, most notably as the unfaithful wife in The Merchant of Four Seasons and the silent abused assistant in The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant.

Irm Hermann idolized him, but Fassbinder tormented and tortured her for over a decade. This included domestic violence: "He couldn't conceive of my refusing him, and he tried everything. He almost beat me to death on the streets of Bochum ...." In 1977, Hermann became romantically involved with another man and became pregnant by him. Fassbinder proposed to her and offered to adopt the child; she turned him down.

In 1969, while portraying the lead role in the T.V film Baal under the direction of Volker Schlöndorff, Fassbinder met Günther Kaufmann, a black Bavarian actor who had a minor role in the film. Despite the fact that Kaufmann was married and had two children, Fassbinder fell madly in love with him. The two began a turbulent affair which ultimately affected the production of Baal. Fassbinder tried to buy Kaufmann's love by casting him in major roles in his films and buying him expensive gifts.

Kaufmann relished the attention and became more demanding. Fassbinder bought Kauffmann four Lamborghinis over the period of a year; Kauffmann wrecked one and sold the others if they failed to meet his expectations. The relationship came to an end when Kaufmann became romantically involved with composer Peer Raben. After the end of their relationship, Fassbinder continued to cast Kaufmann in his films, albeit in minor roles. Kaufmann appeared in fourteen of Fassbinder's films, with the lead role in Whity (1971).

Although he claimed to be opposed to matrimony as an institution, in 1970 Fassbinder married Ingrid Caven, an actress who regularly appeared in his films. Their wedding reception was recycled in the film he was making at that time, The American Soldier. Their relationship of mutual admiration survived the complete failure of their two-year marriage. "Ours was a love story in spite of the marriage," Caven explained in an interview, adding about her former husband's sexuality: "Rainer was a homosexual who also needed a woman. It’s that simple and that complex." The three most important women of Fassbinder’s life, Irm Hermann, Ingrid Caven and Juliane Lorenz, his last partner, were not disturbed by his homosexuality.

In 1971, Fassbinder began a relationship with El Hedi ben Salem, a Moroccan Berber who had left his wife and five children the previous year, after meeting him at a gay bathhouse in Paris. Over the next three years, Salem appeared in several Fassbinder productions. His best known role was "Ali" in Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974). Their three-year relationship was punctuated with jealousy, violence and heavy drug and alcohol use. Fassbinder finally ended the relationship in 1974 due to Salem's chronic alcoholism and tendency to become violent when he drank. Shortly after the breakup, Salem stabbed three people in Berlin (none of which were fatal) and had to be smuggled out of Berlin. Salem eventually made his way to France where he was arrested and imprisoned. He hanged himself while in custody in 1977. News of Salem's suicide was kept from Fassbinder for years. He eventually found out about his former lover's death shortly before his own death in 1982 and dedicated his last film, Querelle, to Salem.

Fassbinder's next lover was Armin Meier. Meier was a near illiterate former butcher who had spent his early years in an orphanage. He also appeared in several Fassbinder films in this period. A glimpse into their troubled relationship can be seen in Fassbinder's episode for Germany in Autumn (1978). Fassbinder ended the relationship in April 1978. During the week of Fassbinder's birthday (31 May), Meier deliberately consumed four bottles of sleeping pills and alcohol in the kitchen of the apartment he and Fassbinder had previously shared. His body was found a week later.

In the last four years of his life, his companion was Juliane Lorenz (born 1957), the editor of his films during the last years of his life. She can be seen in a small role as the film producer's secretary in Veronika Voss. According to Lorenz, they considered getting married but never did so. Although they were reported drifting apart in his last year, an accusation Lorenz has denied, they were still living together at the time of his death.

Usually with

Kurt Raab
Kurt Raab
(29 films)
Harry Baer
Harry Baer
(23 films)
Lilo Pempeit
Lilo Pempeit
(24 films)
Ingrid Caven
Ingrid Caven
(22 films)
Hanna Schygulla
Hanna Schygulla
(22 films)
Source : Wikidata

Filmography of Rainer Werner Fassbinder (50 films)

Display filmography as list

Actor

A German Youth, 1h33
Directed by Jean-Gabriel Périot
Origin France
Genres Documentary
Themes Films about terrorism, Documentary films about terrorism
Actors Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Jean-Luc Godard
Rating69% 3.486263.486263.486263.486263.48626
Le film retrace chronologiquement l'histoire de la Fraction armée rouge (Rote Armee Fraktion), de la genèse de l'organisation d'extrême-gauche à la mort de ses principaux protagonistes en prison, et la réception de ses actions terroristes dans l'Allemagne de l'Ouest des années 1970.
Room 666
Room 666 (1982)
, 50minutes
Directed by Wim Wenders
Origin France
Genres Documentary
Themes Films about films, Documentary films about business, Documentary films about the film industry
Actors Steven Spielberg, Jean-Luc Godard, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Chantal Akerman, Michelangelo Antonioni, Mike De Leon
Roles Self
Rating65% 3.294023.294023.294023.294023.29402
Durant le festival de Cannes en 1982, Wim Wenders a invité les cinéastes présents à se rendre tour à tour dans la chambre 666 de l'hôtel Martinez et à mettre en marche la caméra et le magnétophone qu'il y avait placés pour répondre à une seule question : «le cinéma est-il un langage en train de se perdre, un art qui va mourir ? ».
Veronika Voss, 1h44
Directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Origin German
Genres Drama, Crime
Themes Medical-themed films, Films about drugs, Films about sexuality, Films about psychiatry
Actors Rosel Zech, Hilmar Thate, Annemarie Düringer, Doris Schade, Erik Schumann, Günther Kaufmann
Roles Kinobesucher (uncredited)
Rating75% 3.79553.79553.79553.79553.7955
The film is loosely based on the career of actress Sybille Schmitz and is influenced by Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard.
Kamikaze 1989, 1h46
Directed by Wolf Gremm
Origin German
Genres Science fiction, Thriller
Themes Films about computing, Films based on science fiction novels, Political films, Cyberpunk films, Dystopian films
Actors Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Günther Kaufmann, Boy Gobert, Richy Müller, Brigitte Mira, Nicole Heesters
Roles Police Lieutenant Jansen
Rating58% 2.902742.902742.902742.902742.90274
L'Allemagne dans un futur proche. Le pays est riche, tous les problèmes semblent résolus, il n'y a pas de pollution ni de chômage. L'alcool mais aussi les légumes cultivés dans son propre potager sont interdits, on ne parle plus de suicide mais de décès inopiné, la télévision veille à la tranquillité par ses émissions comme le concours annuel de l'humour (placé dans une série mettant en scène Einstein et Napoléon) et des bulletins météorologiques toujours positifs. La police (dont le symbole est un poing au pouce levé) fait régner l'ordre grâce à ses actions contre les "Prokos". Tous les médias sont entre les mains d'un groupe dont la direction appartient à la même famille. La seule parole critique se trouve dans la série de bande dessinée La Panthère bleue qui fait une caricature de patrons autocrates et réunit leurs adversaires, les "Krysmopompes".
Lili Marleen, 1h55
Directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Genres Drama, War, Musical theatre, Historical, Musical, Romance
Themes Films about music and musicians, Musical films, Political films
Actors Hanna Schygulla, Giancarlo Giannini, Christine Kaufmann, Hark Bohm, Mel Ferrer, Udo Kier
Roles Günther Weissenborn (uncredited)
Rating70% 3.542123.542123.542123.542123.54212
The film is set during the Third Reich and is about the forbidden love between the German singer Willie (Hanna Schygulla) and the Swiss Jewish composer Robert Mendelssohn (a character based on Rolf Liebermann), who actively seeks to help an underground group of German Jews.
Berlin Alexanderplatz (miniseries), 14h54
Directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Genres Drama, Crime
Themes Medical-themed films, Prison films, Films about sexuality, Erotic films, LGBT-related films, Films about prostitution, Films about psychiatry, Political films, Erotic thriller films, Films set in psychiatric hospitals, LGBT-related films, LGBT-related film
Actors Hanna Schygulla, Barbara Sukowa, Bata Kameni, Elisabeth Trissenaar, Gottfried John, Karin Baal
Roles Narrator and Himself
Rating83% 4.1935254.1935254.1935254.1935254.193525
1: The Punishment Begins Berlin, 1928. Franz Biberkopf is released after serving four years in Tegel prison for killing his girlfriend Ida. After settling into his old apartment he visits Minna, Ida’s sister. Minna succumbs to his forceful advances. In a flashback we see Franz kill Ida with a cream whip after correctly suspecting she was about to leave him. Franz later runs into his old friend Meck and has a drink with him in Max’s bar, a local place. There he meets Lina Przybilla, a young Polish woman, who moves in with him. He receives notification from the Berlin Police that he is barred from living in certain Berlin districts and surrounding municipalities, under the threat of a fine or imprisonment, Biberkopf places himself under the supervision of a charity called Prisoners' Aid, to which he must report once a month, and remain in employment. By doing this, he is able to remain in Berlin.
The Marriage of Maria Braun, 2h
Directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Origin German
Genres Drama, War
Themes Pregnancy films, Films about sexuality, Political films, Films about marriage
Actors Hanna Schygulla, Klaus Löwitsch, Gisela Uhlen, Ivan Desny, Gottfried John, Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Roles Peddler
Rating76% 3.846343.846343.846343.846343.84634
The film starts in Germany in 1943. During an Allied bombing raid Maria (Hanna Schygulla) marries the soldier Hermann Braun (Klaus Löwitsch). After "half a day and a whole night" together, Hermann returns to the front. Postwar, Maria is told that Hermann has been killed. Maria starts work as a hostess in a bar frequented by American soldiers. She has a relationship with an African-American soldier Bill (George Byrd), who supports her and gives her nylon stockings and cigarettes. She becomes pregnant by Bill.
Despair
Despair (1978)
, 1h59
Directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Origin German
Genres Drama, Thriller, Fantasy
Themes Medical-themed films, Psychologie, L'usurpation d'identité, Films about psychiatry, Escroquerie
Actors Dirk Bogarde, Andréa Ferréol, Klaus Löwitsch, Volker Spengler, Ingrid Caven, Alexander Allerson
Rating68% 3.445093.445093.445093.445093.44509
Hermann Hermann is a successful entrepreneur in the 1930s Germany. As the Nazis gradually rise to power, Hermann, who is a Russian émigré, becomes increasingly frightened and mentally unstable. His attempts at leaving the country are accompanied by symptoms of madness, the most vivid being his belief that he found his exact double, although the person in question differs from him in every respect. He creates an elaborate plan that would allow him to flee to Switzerland, but it soon becomes unclear whether his voyage leads him to a neutral country or merely allows him to take refuge in his madness.
Germany in Autumn, 1h59
Directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Volker Schlöndorff, Alexander Kluge, Alf Brustellin, Edgar Reitz, Bernhard Sinkel, Katja Rupé
Origin German
Genres Drama, Documentary
Themes Films about terrorism, Documentaire sur une personnalité, Autobiographical documentary films
Actors Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Heinz Bennent, Lilo Pempeit, Katja Rupé, Helmut Griem, Angela Winkler
Roles Self (uncredited)
Rating68% 3.4411353.4411353.4411353.4411353.441135
Automne allemand 1977, la Fraction armée rouge (RAF) terrorise la République fédérale d’Allemagne pour libérer ses figures historiques. Deux célébrations de funérailles à deux jours d'intervalle à Stuttgart ponctuent le récit. La première est l'enterrement du patron des patrons, exécuté par les terroristes de la RAF après la nuit de la mort de leurs leaders retrouvés suicidés dans leurs cellules de Stammheim quelques heures après l'annonce de la libération des otages du détournement du Landshut. La seconde est l'enterrement des suicidés de Stammheim sous haute surveillance policière. Dix réalisateurs du nouveau cinéma allemand témoignent de cette accélération des événements en mettant en scène des fictions et courts documentaires historiques pour restituer le climat de terreur quotidienne inspirée par la RAF tout en s'interrogeant sur la pression étatique nécessaire à la traque de terroristes dans un pays démocratique.
Shadow of Angels, 1h41
Directed by Daniel Schmid
Origin German
Genres Drama
Themes Théâtre, Films based on plays
Actors Ingrid Caven, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Klaus Löwitsch, Annemarie Düringer, Adrian Hoven, Boy Gobert
Roles Raoul
Rating64% 3.222473.222473.222473.222473.22247
Lily Brest, une prostituée viennoise particulièrement jolie, a peu de client. Battue par son souteneur et amant Raoul, qui joue au jeu tout ce qu'elle gagne, elle rencontre un jour un riche juif, qui devient son principal client...
I Only Want You to Love Me, 1h43
Directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Origin German
Genres Drama
Actors Elke Aberle, Erni Mangold, Alexander Allerson, Johanna Hofer, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Armin Meier
Rating75% 3.790673.790673.790673.790673.79067
Peter Trepper (Vitus Zeplichal) is a young man who is serving ten years in prison for committing an impulsive murder. A psychologist (Erika Runge) interviews him to learn his motive and life history. Peter has a loveless childhood in the home of his innkeeper parents (Alexander Allerson and Erni Mangold). Despite his obedience and good works, he fails to win their acceptance. Hastily, Peter marries his girlfriend Erika (Elke Aberle) and relocates to Munich, where he continues his quixotic efforts to gain approval, especially from his new wife. He pressures himself to work long hours while spending money lavishly, leading to constant stress over debts. When Peter loses his job, he finally snaps, striking and strangling a bartender (Janos Gönczöl) who reminds him of his own father.
Fox and His Friends, 2h3
Directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Genres Drama, Crime, Romance
Themes Films about sexuality, LGBT-related films, LGBT-related films, LGBT-related film
Actors Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Karlheinz Böhm, Peter Chatel, Kurt Raab, El Hedi ben Salem, Adrian Hoven
Roles Franz "Fox" Bieberkopf
Rating75% 3.795483.795483.795483.795483.79548
Franz Bieberkopf is a sweet and unsophisticated working-class homosexual who works in a carnival as "Fox, the Talking Head". He finds himself without a job when his
Mother Küsters Goes to Heaven, 1h43
Directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Origin German
Genres Drama
Actors Brigitte Mira, Ingrid Caven, Karlheinz Böhm, Margit Carstensen, Irm Hermann, Gottfried John
Roles Pfarrer (voix) (non-crédité)
Rating74% 3.7456853.7456853.7456853.7456853.745685
Emma Küsters (Mira), a working-class woman, lives in Frankfurt with her son and daughter-in-law. While she is doing outreach work assembling electric plugs, Frau Küsters learns that her husband Hermann (a tire-factory worker for twenty years) has killed his supervisor and then committed suicide. It later becomes apparent that Mr. Küsters had become temporarily insane after hearing layoff announcements.
Ali: Fear Eats the Soul, 1h33
Directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Origin German
Genres Drama, Romance
Themes Films about immigration, Films about racism, Films about sexuality
Actors Brigitte Mira, El Hedi ben Salem, Barbara Valentin, Irm Hermann, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Walter Sedlmayr
Roles Eugen
Rating79% 3.996973.996973.996973.996973.99697
Ali (Salem), is a Moroccan Gastarbeiter (guest worker) in his late thirties, and Emmi (Mira), is a 60-year-old widowed cleaning woman. They meet when Emmi ducks inside a bar, driven by the rain and drawn by the exotic Arabic music (Al Asfouryeh by Sabah) she says she has heard so often on her walk home from work. A woman in the bar (Katharina Herberg) who is part of Ali's Arabic-speaking cohort tauntingly suggests Ali ask Emmi ("the old woman") to dance, and Emmi accepts. A strange and unlikely friendship develops, then a romance and soon they are living together in Emmi's flat. Out of a professed sense of responsibility but also hopefulness, Emmi first confides in her newfound love when she goes to visit her daughter Krista (Irm Hermann) and her tyrannical son-in-law Eugen (Fassbinder himself) and announces that she is in love with Ali; Eugen thinks she is screwy and Krista as well can only think that her mother - who has been a widow for years - is fantasizing.
Effi Briest, 2h20
Directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Origin German
Genres Drama, Historical
Themes Films about sexuality
Actors Hanna Schygulla, Wolfgang Schenck, Karlheinz Böhm, Ulli Lommel, Lilo Pempeit, Irm Hermann
Roles Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
Rating68% 3.4461053.4461053.4461053.4461053.446105
The film begins with Effi Briest using a swing set in her family’s back yard, where her mother, Louise Briest, comments on her wild nature, saying that she has an aerial spirit. Later, Effi is seen talking to some of the other teenage girls outside her house about when Baron Instetten was younger. She recalls a story her mother had told her about Instetten visiting her at her family estate while he was still a soldier. However, the man who would become Effi’s father was already in the council of nobles and owned Hohen-Cremmen, so when he asked to marry Effi’s mother she chose to accept. Afterward, Instetten chose to resign from the army and study law. When Effi returns inside, Effi’s mother informs her that Baron Instetten has asked for her hand. With her parent’s encouragement, along with her own desire for prestige, she accepts the proposal.