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Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Director 1945 - 1982

Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Bad Wörishofen, Germany

Rainer Werner Fassbinder (31 May 1945 — 10 June 1982) was a German film director, screenwriter, and actor. Considered one of the most important figures in the New German Cinema, Fassbinder was prolific; in a professional career less than fifteen years, he completed forty... Read full bio →

Directed Films

Every film this person directed

28 titles
Querelle

Querelle

Rainer Werner Fassbinder 1982 1h 49m 9.0

French sailor Querelle arrives in Brest and starts frequenting a strange whorehouse. He discovers that his brother Robert is the lover of the lady owner, Lysiane. Here, you can play dice with Nono, Lysiane's husband : if you win, you are allowed to make love with Lysiane, if you lose, you have to make love with Nono... Querelle loses on purpose...

Die Sehnsucht der Veronika Voss

Die Sehnsucht der Veronika Voss

Rainer Werner Fassbinder 1982 1h 45m 8.7

Partially based on the life of Sybille Schmitz, who found fame under the Nazi regime, but whose career was destroyed afterward. Veronika Voss is a once prominent UFA actress, kept by her doctor, who raises suspicion in a sports journalist.

Lola

Lola

Rainer Werner Fassbinder 1981 1h 53m 6.3

A cabaret singer corrupts a city planner in 1957 Germany.

Lili Marleen

Lili Marleen

Rainer Werner Fassbinder 1981 2h

Lili Marleen is the story of a German singer named Wilkie who while working in Switzerland falls in love with a Jewish composer named Robert who’s family is helping people to flee from the Nazis. Roberts family is skeptical of Walkie thinking she could be a Nazi as she becomes famous for singing Lili Marleen.

Die dritte Generation

Die dritte Generation

Rainer Werner Fassbinder 1979 1h 50m 8.0

A wildly anarchic satire of guerrilla terrorism in which a band of leftist radicals inadvertently become puppets of the West German government, which uses them to justify its authoritarian policies.

Die Ehe der Maria Braun

Die Ehe der Maria Braun

Rainer Werner Fassbinder 1979 2h 8.2

The Marriage of Maria Braun is a collage of the times in Germany after the war, economic miracles, and a portrait of a woman who in her circumstances wants to emancipate and have a successful and happy career. The film is a masterpiece from German director Fassbinder.

In einem Jahr mit 13 Monden

In einem Jahr mit 13 Monden

Rainer Werner Fassbinder 1978 2h 4m 6.0

Elvira Weishaupt, once a burly working-class butcher named Erwin, has made an enormous sacrifice for love. She has undergone a sex change for a romantic interest who has abandoned her, and she now must struggle to reconcile her past life with her present identity.

Deutschland im Herbst

Deutschland im Herbst

Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Volker Schlöndorff 1978 2h 3m

Germany in Autumn has no typical plot; it mixes documentary footage with standard movie scenes to present the mood of Germany during the late 1970s. The film covers 2 months in 1977 when a businessman was kidnapped and murdered by the left-wing terrorists known as the RAF-Rote Armee Fraktion (Red Army Faction).

Despair

Despair

Rainer Werner Fassbinder 1978 1h 57m 8.0

In early-1930s Berlin, an elegant Russian émigré and eccentric chocolatier convinces himself that he has seen his doppelgänger, and hatches a murderous plan to trade his existence for an entirely new one. Will he get over the deep despair?

Satansbraten

Satansbraten

Rainer Werner Fassbinder 1976 1h 53m 5.0

A famous poet who hasn't written a word in two years unconsciously plagiarizes the work of Stefan George, while dealing with several mistresses, his dim-witted brother, and a murder investigation.

Ich will doch nur, daß ihr mich liebt

Ich will doch nur, daß ihr mich liebt

Rainer Werner Fassbinder 1976 1h 44m

Peter grew up during the economic miracle, bereft of parental care and love. Learning early on that interpersonal relationships are based on the principles of exchange or purchase, he abides by these rules and gives generous presents to his family and his wife, Erika.

Chinesisches Roulette

Chinesisches Roulette

Rainer Werner Fassbinder 1976 1h 26m 8.7

Both parents of a young teen who walks with crutches secretly meet their lovers, who both surprise each other at the family's country home. The daughter arrives and initiates a guessing game of "Chinese roulette."

Mutter Küsters' Fahrt zum Himmel

Mutter Küsters' Fahrt zum Himmel

Rainer Werner Fassbinder 1975 1h 48m

After her husband kills his boss and himself, Mother Kusters becomes drawn into the activities of the German Communist party and then a group of anarchists.

Faustrecht der Freiheit

Faustrecht der Freiheit

Rainer Werner Fassbinder 1975 2h 5m 8.8

A suggestible working-class innocent wins the lottery but lets himself be taken advantage of by his bourgeois new boyfriend and his circle of materialistic friends.

Angst vor der Angst

Angst vor der Angst

Rainer Werner Fassbinder 1975 1h 31m

After having her second child, a German housewife suffers from postpartum depression before inexplicably falling into a continually misdiagnosed mental state, befuddling her relatives.

Martha

Martha

Rainer Werner Fassbinder 1974 1h 56m 8.0

After the death of her abusive father, the lonely librarian Martha marries an equally vile businessman - Helmut. The cruel and torturous nature of their relationship leads Martha to believe Helmut might be trying to kill her.

Fontane - Effi Briest

Fontane - Effi Briest

Rainer Werner Fassbinder 1974 2h 21m 6.0

Fontane Effi Briest is a German made film based on one of the most famous German novels by Theodor Fontane

Angst essen Seele auf

Angst essen Seele auf

Rainer Werner Fassbinder 1974 1h 33m 8.5

A simple, delicate, melodramatic German film about a loneliness. With a double moral story about the tainted love between an old woman and a younger dark-colored immigrant worker.

Händler der vier Jahreszeiten

Händler der vier Jahreszeiten

Rainer Werner Fassbinder 1972 1h 28m 7.0

Hans is a street fruit peddler and born-loser. His choice of career upsets his bourgeois family, causing him to turn to drinking and violence. After recovering from a debilitating heart attack, his business finally begins to take off. However the more he becomes a credit to his family, the more depressed he becomes.

Die bitteren Tränen der Petra von Kant

Die bitteren Tränen der Petra von Kant

Rainer Werner Fassbinder 1972 2h 4m 8.3

A troubled fashion designer strikes up a romance with a much younger woman.

Whity

Whity

Rainer Werner Fassbinder 1971 1h 35m 8.0

Whity is the mulatto butler of the dysfunctional Nicholson family in the south-west U.S. in 1878. The father, Ben Nicholson, has an attractive young wife, Katherine, and two sons by a previous marriage; the homosexual Frank and the disabled Davy.

Warnung vor einer heiligen Nutte

Warnung vor einer heiligen Nutte

Rainer Werner Fassbinder 1971 1h 43m 7.0

Tensions between members of a film crew build while they wait for the arrival of the director and star to arrive on location.

Pioniere in Ingolstadt

Pioniere in Ingolstadt

Rainer Werner Fassbinder 1971 1h 24m

Berta, a naive young maid, searches for love when the army engineers come to town to build a bridge.

Warum läuft Herr R. Amok

Warum läuft Herr R. Amok

Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Michael Fengler 1970 1h 24m

Herr Raab is a technical draftsman. His wife pushes him to seek a promotion, which may be a long shot after he gives a dull and tipsy toast at an office dinner. But why would Herr Raab run amok?

Götter der Pest

Götter der Pest

Rainer Werner Fassbinder 1970 1h 31m

A man is released from prison and finds the society on the outside less than appealing. With several women as well as the police on his tail, he sets out to find an old friend.

Der amerikanische Soldat

Der amerikanische Soldat

Rainer Werner Fassbinder 1970 1h 20m

Ricky returns to Munich from Vietnam and is promptly hired as a contract killer in Fassbinder’s subversive and experimental gangster movie.

Liebe ist kälter als der Tod

Liebe ist kälter als der Tod

Rainer Werner Fassbinder 1969 1h 28m 7.0

A small-time pimp is torn between his lover and Bruno the gangster.

Katzelmacher

Katzelmacher

Rainer Werner Fassbinder 1969 1h 30m 7.0

Jorgos, a migrant worker from Greece, joins a group of young people in Munich usually hanging around. This foreigner incites hostility and jealousy among them, and he is insulted as a "Communist" and "Greek dog". After having been attacked, Jorgos talks to Maria of his wish to return home.

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