Director - Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Genre - Drama
Set in post war Germany, Hanna Schygulla stars as Maria Braun, a girl who uses sex as a commodity to advance in life, working her booty all the way to the top of a company. The tragedy of Maria was that she remained unhappy even though she had achieved all that she had managed to procure. Her most endearing characteristic which is loving only one man in her life would prove to be her undoing, setting the stage for Fassbinder's often pessimistic view of love and life. But what made this film jump out for us is its sense of cynicism and its director's grasp of what makes a woman tick. The way he just gets that sometimes women are these ever-changing, forever dramatic creatures. Feminists out there will maul us for that statement but if you've ever been burnt by one you'd be inclined to agree. Fassbinder understands this explosive, unstable nature of women like no other filmmaker we've ever encountered. Whether you love or hate Maria, you can't say she is a stock, cinema stereotype. For that and a genuine air of unpredictability which ran fiercely throughout the story, Fassbinder is firmly in our good books.
4 STARS!
All about The Marriage of Maria Braun
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