The Marriage of Maria Braun

1979 2h 0m DE

👍

7.4

SOLID

★7.4TMDB · 313

Drama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Maria marries a young soldier in the last days of World War II, only for him to go missing in the war. She must rely on her beauty and ambition to navigate the difficult post-war years alone.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

Hanna Schygulla
Maria Braun
Klaus Löwitsch
Hermann Braun
Ivan Desny
Karl Oswald
George Eagles
Bill
Gisela Uhlen
Mother
Elisabeth Trissenaar
Betti Klenze
Gottfried John
Willi Klenze
Hark Bohm
Senkenberg

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Writers: Pea Fröhlich, Peter Märthesheimer
Languages: French, German, English
Countries: Germany

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

ERA

Did you know

47 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 3 languages: French, German, English.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, shot by Michael Ballhaus. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Peer Raben. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Rainer Werner Fassbinder shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Hanna Schygulla and Klaus Löwitsch and Ivan Desny carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0079095 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Rainer Werner Fassbinder directs. Michael Ballhaus behind the camera. Peer Raben scores. Rainer Werner Fassbinder cuts. Produced in Germany. Dialogue in French, German, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

147 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2Dialogue crosses 3 languages: French, German, English.
3Directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, shot by Michael Ballhaus. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Peer Raben. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Rainer Werner Fassbinder shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Hanna Schygulla and Klaus Löwitsch and Ivan Desny carry the top of the cast.
7IMDB entry: tt0079095 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Classified under 9 themes, including "strong woman", "black market", "empowerment", "world war ii".

The technical file

Cinematography: Michael Ballhaus
Original score: Peer Raben
Editing: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Production design: Helga Ballhaus
Costume design: Barbara Baum
Makeup / hair: Anni Nöbauer
Sound: Milan Bor
Runtime: 120 min · 2h 0m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: DE
IMDB: The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979)

Also by

Rainer Werner Fassbinder

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2024-09-13
★ 7/10
With the defeat of the Nazis looming large, "Maria" (Hanna Schygulla) marries her sweet-heart "Hermann" (Klaus Löwitch) before he is promptly sent off to the front and she loses all trace of him. With her nation now in ruins, she has no way of surviving and so has to adapt by using her wits, guile and even her body to keep alive. Fortunately, she alights on an American soldier who enables her to keep her head above water but she spurns anything more permanent as, even when told of his death, she refuses to abandon hope that "Hermann" will return. The thrust of this story continues for many a year as she begins to hone her skills of successfully combining satisfaction for others as well as herself with an increasing improvement in her circumstances. Sooner or later, though, one of these men will prove less gullible and/or lovestruck and her secret might just bring her new life tumbling down before she manages to reunite with an husband whom she's not even sure is still alive! This is a great looking drama that takes us on quite an emotionally turbulent trip into the debris of a city and a culture that saw "Maria" - like so many other hausfrau, left without any means of support as the Allies took control and struggled to deal with their own significant logistic problems. Schygulla delivers powerfully as a woman who must think on her feet to put bread on the table and a roof (or at least part of one) over her head. She's not by nature ruthless but when needs must she realises that she can rely on nobody but herself. Fassbender cleverly uses the screenplay and the bombed-out city-scape to create characters that do illicit a degree of counterintuitive sympathy. In may ways, she is a victim but will she accept that status? Her society gradually becomes akin to the phoenix and the ashes, and her determination not to be left behind is emotively captured over the two hours we spend with her and some equally ill-equipped destitute German people gradually becoming just ein bischen optimistic. It doesn't address the post-war politics of directly, but there are a few more oblique comments to add a further elements of realism to this quite poignantly written drama that marries disaster, a little humour and a great deal of fortitude.

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