1978, 120 mins, Germany, IIB
Awards:
1979 Berlin Film Festival – Silver Bear for Best Actress, Reader Jury of the “Berliner Morgenpost”
1979 German Film Awards – Film Award in Gold – Best Direction, Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role & Supporting Role, Best Production Design
It was Fassbinder’s most financially and critically successful film, and it was also Fassbinder’s first attempt to approach the subject of German history, not from the official political angle, but with a more personal point of view. The story takes place in Germany during the reconstruction period after World War II. Maria Braun, whose husband is presumed to be dead during the war, manages to climb the social ladder but must pay an excessive price for her professional success. The first film in Fassbinder’s eclectic and critical FRG (West Germany) trilogy.
