Filme von Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Berlin Alexanderplatz (1979/80)

A Film in 13 Parts and an Epilogue. 1. The Punishment Begins 2. How is One to Live if One Doesn’t Want to Die? 3. A Hammer Blow on the Head Can Injure the Soul 4. A Handful of People in the Depth of Silence 5. A Grim Reaper With Powers from Almighty God 6. Love Has Its Price 7. Remember – an Oath Can be Amputated 8. The Sun Warms the Skin, But Burns it Sometimes, Too 9. About the Eternities Between the Many and the Few 10. Loneliness Can Tear Cracks of Madness into Walls 11. Knowledge is Power, and the Early Bird Catches the Worm 12. The Serpent in the Soul of the Serpent 13. The Outside and the Inside and the Secret of the Fear of Fear Epilogue: Rainer Werner Fassbinder: My Dream of the Dream of Franz Biberkopf This is the story of Franz Biberkopf (Günter Lamprecht), who, without much perspective, with no goal and no work, stumbles through Berlin in the years 1928/29. While he is a good-natured, soft and tender man on the one hand, he is also a tough, choleric, and brutal human being. What keeps him alive is the conviction that although the world may be an evil place, humankind is good natured. “Damned is he who relies on other humans,” is the novel’s leitmotiv, but Franz Biberkopf always gets over it, recovers from the blows, until that which he loves most in the world is taken away from him. He cannot stand it anymore, is taken to a mental institution and turns into what they call “reasonable” – and this is when it is all over for him. The story begins when Franz Biberkopf is released from the Tegel prison. This is where he was sentenced after he killed his girlfriend Ida (Barbara Valentin) in a violent rage. Now he enters the bubbling city and wants to start a new life even though the city scares him. There are a few people he can rely on. They are his former lover Eva (Hanna Schygulla), who now works as a high class prostitute for her pimp Herbert (Roger Fritz), the owner (Claus Holm) of his regular hangout, and his landlady Frau Bast (Brigitte Mira). Although this is not much, in the beginning it suffices for Franz – until he realizes that he cannot find work, that nobody needs him and that ultimately he is betrayed by someone he thought was his friend. This knocks him out for the time being; he flees to a house where no one knows him and he drinks and drinks – what is he supposed to do in this life and how is he supposed to manage? It is not until numerous depressed weeks have passed that Franz resurfaces, determined to start a new life. This is when Reinhold (Gottfried John) arrives on the scene. For Franz, he is a mysterious yet fascinating figure: He is a pimp, a criminal; is he good or evil, is he unscrupulous, is he a demon? Franz doesn’t know, all he knows is that he feels magically attracted to Reinhold and that he is ready to trust Reinhold blindly, no matter what. Franz makes himself dependent on Reinhold, he clings to him until Reinhold finds him a burden and literally tries to get rid of him: Franz is nearly killed over this but in the end he only loses one arm and begins from scratch again. Mieze (Barbara Sukowa), the tender and loving Mieze, will help him. And what can be more helpful than somebody who loves you and whom you love back! But this time, Reinhold is serious. He kills Mieze and thereby takes away from Franz the only thing that has kept him alive. Now, it is finally over for Franz Biberkopf.

Weltvertrieb
Bavaria Media

Verleih (D)
Bavaria Media

Produktionsjahr
1979/80
Regie
Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Buch
Rainer Werner Fassbinder, based on the novel by Alfred Döblin
Künstlerische Mitarbeit
Harry Baer
Kamera
Xaver Schwarzenberger
Musik
Peer Raben
Schnitt
Juliane Lorenz, Franz Walsch
Ausstattung
Helmut Gassner, Werner Achmann, Jürgen Henze
Kostüme
Barbara Baum
Besetzung
Günter Lamprecht (Franz Biberkopf) Hanna Schygulla (Eva) Barbara Sukowa (Mieze) Gottfried John (Reinhold) Franz Buchrieser (Meck) Claus Holm (Max, Wirt) Brigitte Mira (Frau Bast, Wirtin) Roger Fritz (Herbert) Ivan Desny (Pums) Elisabeth Trissenaar (Lina) Helen Vita (Fränze) Annemarie Düringer (Cilly) Barbara Valentin (Ida) Irm Hermann (Trude) Liselotte Pempeit (a.k.a. Liselotte Eder) (Frau Pums) Karin Baal (Minna) Margit Carstensen (Sekretärin des Rechtanwalts / Engel Terah) Helmut Griem (Engel Sarug) und Rainer Werner Fassbinder (Erzählerstimme / er selbst, im Epilog) sowie in alphabetischer Reihenfolge: Herb Andress (2. Polizist) Werner Asam (Fritz) Harry Baer (Richard) Axel Bauer (Dreske) Hark Bohm (Lüders) Marquard Bohm (Otto) Karl-Heinz Braun (Rechtsanwalt Löwenhund) Jürgen Draeger (Würstchenverkäufer) Almut Eggert (Wahrsagerin) Matthias Fuchs (Arzt) Dirk Galuba (Taxifahrer) Jan George (Greiner) Raoul Gimenez (Konrad) Mechthild Grossmann (Paula) Jan Groth (Ede, Tischler)* Elke Haltaufderheide (Kellnerin) Karl-Heinz von Hassel (2. Kriminaler) Siegfried Hechler (Kohlenschlepper) Traute Hoess (Emmy) Klaus Höhne (Zeitungshändler) Adrian Hoven (Freier von Mieze) Elma Karlowa (Frau Greiner) Yaak Karsunke (Pförtner im Gefängnis) Günther Kaufmann (Theo) Udo Kier (junger Mann an der Bar) Peter Kollek (Nachum) Peter Kuiper (Glatzkopf) Horst Laube (Oberarzt) Hermann Lause (Versicherungsmann) Georg Lehn (Irrer) Wolfried Lier (anarchistischer Arbeiter) Juliane Lorenz (Gefangenenfürsorgerin) Christine de Loup (Frau des Autofahrers) Marie-Luise Marjan (Wirtin) Christiane Maybach (Frau in der Absteige) Sonja Neudorfer (Blumenverkäuferin) Engelbert von Nordhausen (Münzer) Helmut Petigk (alter Mann in der Bar) Dieter Prochnow (1. Polizist) Peer Raben (Dirigent) Hans Michael Rehberg (Kommissar) Katrin Schaake (Frau des Kellners) Roland Schäfer (Dr. Proll) Fritz Schediwy (Willy) Wolfgang Schenck (1. Kriminaler) Karl Scheydt (Autofahrer) Angela Schmid (Witwe) Volker Spengler (Bruno) Herbert Steinmetz (Zeitungshändler in der U-Bahn) Kurt Weinzierl (Redner) Rainer Will (Zeitungshändler in der Straße) Y Sa Lo (Ilse) Rolf Zacher (Krause) Hans Zander (Eliser) Vitus Zeplichal (Rudi) Gerhard Zwerenz (Baumann) * Szene nicht in der Endfassung der Folge 14
Produktion
Bavaria Atelier / RAI, commissioned by WDR
Format
Part 1: 81 min.; Part 2: 59 min.; Part 3: 59 min.; Part 4: 59 min.; Part 5: 59 min.; Part 6: 58 min.; Part 7: 58 min.; Part 8: 58 min.; Part 9: 58 min.; Part 10: 59 min.; Part 11: 59 min.; Part 12: 59 min.; Part 13: 59 min.; Epilog: 111 min.