With its running time of over 15 hours, this miniseries from German director Rainer Werner Fassbinder seems daunting, but it's a rewarding viewing experience for fans of both New German Cinema and films in general. Just a year after the release of one of his most acclaimed films, THE MARRIAGE OF MARIA BRAUN, Fassbinder created this epic work based on the novel by Alfred Döblin. At the heart of BERLIN ALEXANDERPLATZ lies Franz Biberkopf (Günter Lamprecht, who also starred in THE MARRIAGE OF MARIA BRAUN), a man who tries to overcome his criminal past. But both Weimar Germany and his own character threaten to stifle his efforts to change as he begins to slowly go mad. With Fassbinder's death the year after BERLIN ALEXANDERPLATZ aired, this makes for a sobering look at one of the master's final efforts.
DVD Features:
7-Disc Set
Full Frame - 1.33
Audio:
Dolby Digital 1.0 - German
Subtitles - English
Additional Release Material:
Documentary - Hans Dieter Hartl's The Making of BERLIN ALEXANDERPLATZ
Interviews - Peter Jelavich - Author; Cast & Crew
Short Films - Phil Jutzi's Film of Alfred Doblin's novel (1931)
Source Writer
Alfred Döblin: Novelist
Director of Photography
Xaver Schwarzenberger: German Director of Photography
Review 1:
"...Huge, magnificent melodrama....It survives, triumphantly."
Source: New York Times
p.C18 08/10/1983
Review 2:
Included in The New York Times "10 BEST FILMS OF 1983"
Source: New York Times
p.II:15 12/25/1983
Review 3:
5 stars out of 5 -- "[A] major landmark in modern German cinema....It's compelling stuff, Fassbinder imbuing the action with a psychological depth that renders it almost Dickensian."
Source: Empire
p.200 11/01/2007
Review 4:
5 stars out of 5 -- "[A] staggering 15-and-a-half-hour masterpiece....As Fassbinder's mesmerising allegory unfolds, Biberkopf becomes a symbol for the rise of the Nazi nightmare...."
Source: Total Film
p.154 12/01/2007
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