The RW Fassbinder Collection (1969-1972)

Our DVD Price: £53.99 RRP: £59.99 Save £6.00 (10%)   Availability This product should be despatched within 2 days.  This product will be despatched from the UK. Delivery times   Earn 265 Bonus Points when you buy this product. More info

Film Description

Born in 1946 to middle class parents, Rainer Werner Fassbinder was the most prolific and controversial director to emerge from post war Germany. Beginning in the theatre, the writer-director brought his own fiercely unsentimental vision of humanity to his work. Right until his death from an overdose aged just 37, Fassbinder remained a politically committed auteur, determined to expose the political and social corruption of post-war Germany.

This set comprises: Love is Colder Than Death; Katzelmacher; Gods of the Plague; The American Soldier; Niklashauser Journey; Rio das Mortes; Beware of a Holy Whore; The Merchant of Four Seasons; The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant.

Film Information

DVD Extras

9 discs. New digital transfers.

Technical Details

Film Media

6 Stills

View Stills

Reviews & Articles

Share your thoughts and opinions - write a review

Review by Christoph Michel on 8th October 2007

When a film maker is studied and venerated by other film makers, whether in gushing, cultish adulation or in sedate, reverential canonization, the result is almost inevitably imitation. Fassbinder is a unique phenomenon in that his work is studied, scrutinised, at times inordinately worshipped, yet there are no faux Fassbinders. This echoes a phenomenon that marked Fassbinder's early gangster and killer films which make up the bulk of this collection: They are infused with the model genre's spirit and sensibilities, but they don't copy its look, style or form. The American gangster films were already there, no need to mimic them.

Among the other films in this extraordinary collection, Niklashauser Journey is a particular treasure in that it was made for TV, and Fassbinder's work for the tube is not in wide circulation. In this retelling in modern dress of a 15th century uprising, a rabble-rouser preaching the gospel of social justice is himself the unwitting dupe of a mysterious "Black Monk" (Fassbinder in his black leather jacket). Beware of a Holy Whore investigates the power dynamics inherent in a particular form of prostitution: filmmaking. Fassbinder again takes responsibility by playing the manipulative production manager who knows just how to keep a doomed project going.

Believe it or not, The Merchant of Four Seasons is a period picture. When there's full employment and opportunity just around the corner, mightn't even a fruit peddler with his handcart partake of the economic boom? Set in the 50s, it marks the beginning of Fassbinder's melodrama period following his discovery of Douglas Sirk. The final film in this box is the first of his Upper Middle Class dramas, The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant. This high melodrama going full tilt was one of Fassbinder's greatest international successes. With its five acts all taking place in the same room, it is claustrophobic in the extreme and absolutely riveting. The next logical step to take is to progress further into Fassbinder's melodramas, past the dividing line between this box and its companion piece, The RW Fassbinder Collection (1973-1982)

View more reviews by Christoph Michel

Browse all Film Reviews

Article - "Humanity is What Matters: An Appreciation of Rainer Werner Fassbinder" by Christoph Michel
Friday 5th October 2007

Throughout the 1970s, Fassbinder seemed to be everywhere. Naturally, you'll say, with him filming at breakneck pace a new film would be along every few months, but that was not all, not by a long shot. He constantly wrote or directed stage plays both in big houses an...  View article in full

Customers who bought this also bought...

Recommendations from fellow customers

The RW Fassbinder Collection (1973-1982)

by Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Rainer Werner Fassbinder (Vol 1)

by Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Fassbinder Collection (Vol.2)

by Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Berlin Alexanderplatz

by Rainer Werner Fassbinder

The Luis Buñuel Collection

by Luis Buñuel

Other films by...

More films directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Fassbinder Collection (Vol.2)

Rainer Werner Fassbinder (Vol 1)

The Merchant Of Four Seasons

The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant

Fear Eats The Soul

View more >

For questions or assistance, call us on (+44) 0844 776 0900 or email on enquiries@moviemail-online.co.uk

© 2004-2007 MovieMail, Ltd., All Rights Reserved. Find out more about MovieMail