14 September 2016

EFFI BRIEST (1974) AND OTHER WORKS BY RAINER WERNER FASSBINDER. REVIEW BY SANDRA HARRIS.




EFFI BRIEST. (1974) DIRECTED, PRODUCED AND NARRATED BY RAINER WERNER FASSBINDER. WRITTEN BY RAINER WERNER FASSBINDER AND THEODOR FONTANE. BASED ON THE 1894 BOOK BY THEODOR FONTANE.
MUSIC BY CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS. CINEMATOGRAPHY BY DIETRICH LOHMANN AND JÜRGEN JÜRGES.
STARRING HANNA SCHYGULLA, WOLFGANG SCHENCK AND ULLI LOMMEL.
REVIEW BY SANDRA HARRIS. ©

This really is an extraordinary film, said to be the film of controversial director Rainer Werner Fassbinder's on which he lavished the most care, time and attention. It's a black-and-white German-language film, set in the tightly-buttoned-up, stiff-necked Prussian society of the Bismarck era.

It's the story of a dazzlingly beautiful young woman called- you guessed it- Effi Briest. She's played by an actress whom Fassbinder favoured, and I must say I can't blame him. She's exceptionally gorgeous and she plays the part of the ringletted hottie as if she's born to it.

With her masses and masses of fabulous curly hair, slim figure, full sexy mouth and huge expressive eyes, Effi could probably have any man she wants. It was the olden days, however, and her parents are quick enough to marry her off to a much older man when she's still only at the tender age of seventeen.

Baron Geert von Instetten is a big bulky dark-haired chap whom I personally find attractive, especially seeing as he's rich and has a fabulous mansion in the countryside, haha. I think he's a little too old and serious for Effi, though, Effi who likes to swing high on the garden swing with her long hair flying out behind her while she giggles and gossips with her girlfriends about men.

The couple certainly don't seem to have a happy married life. Effi finds her husband's mansion a little spooky for her tastes and the Baron's housekeeper Johanna is a proper misery. A regular Mrs. Danvers, in fact. We know that the marriage is consummated because the Baron and Effi have a daughter called Annie together, but the Baron isn't overly affectionate towards his young bride and, eventually, the inevitable happens. Effi meets another man...

His name is Major Crampus (what a terrible name!), he's a friend of the Baron's (isn't that how it always happens?) and he has an utterly silly twirly moustache, but Effi clearly doesn't mind. The pair start a risky affair. It's hard to entirely blame Effi, as she clearly feels neglected and unloved by her husband, with whom she possibly had little enough in common to begin with.

For myself, well, I personally wouldn't do anything to jeopardise the marriage with the rich husband and besides, I dig older men anyway. But hey, the heart wants what the heart wants and Effi bestows upon the lucky Crampas (again, what a terrible name!) all the love of which she's capable. As she's a normal red-blooded young woman, that's probably quite a lot of good lovin'...

It's what happens after the affair is discovered that's almost the most interesting part of this exquisite and beautifully-photographed film. The two men resolve their differences in a ridiculously outdated, old-fashioned way that actually solves little. Effi, in turn, is unfairly ostracised by society in a way that's eerily reminiscent of what happens to Vivien Leigh in the film of Leo Tolstoy's ANNA KARENINA.

The treatment Effi receives at the hands of her husband, her parents, her own daughter and society in general is enough to make you spit with rage at the unfairness of it all. The ending in particular is sad as the film comes full circle, ending as it began in the windswept old garden of Effi's parents' house, the garden where she used to swing for hours on her childhood swing in happier times.

Thanks to ARROW FILMS, this stunning-looking, thought-provoking film is out now on Blu-Ray, which is excellent news for fans of the director's, who sadly died in 1982 from a drugs overdose, aged only 37. The film forms part of a collection that also includes the Fassbinder gems FOX AND HIS FRIENDS (1975), CHINESE ROULETTE (1976) and a number of his earliest works.

My favourite of these early works of Fassbinder's is LOVE IS COLDER THAN DEATH (1969), a black-and-white gangster movie in which the director himself plays Franz, a small-time
pimp who's torn between his sexy prostitute girlfriend Johanna (played by the same beautiful actress who portrays Effi Briest) and his friend Bruno, a gangster.

Bruno, incidentally, is played by the same guy who will go on to play Effi's lover Major Crampas in EFFI BRIEST in 1974. It's a small world, the world of hotshot movie directors, and directors certainly have their favourites...!

There's a really funny scene in LOVE IS COLDER THAN DEATH in which one of the girlfriend's clients turns up for a session with his favourite hooker only to find Franz and Bruno seated at the table in the girlfriend's flat, casually stroking the machine-guns they plan to use in a bank robbery. 

Just what you don't want to see when you've come for your weekly spanking/enema/nipple-torture/willy-whipping or chest-waxing, etc....! It's enough to make a john soil his britches, haha.

I've only recently been introduced to the films of Rainer Werner Fassbinder and, I must say, I'm intrigued enough to want to see more, as many as I can get my hands on. This box-set would be a terrific place to start for any other novices out there, as it's got a terrific mix of films on it and there are some great special features on there too. You have ARROW FILMS to thank for such wonderful largesse, but don't forget me, your favourite movie critic, when you're writing those lovely thank-you cheques...!

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY OF SANDRA HARRIS.

Sandra Harris is a Dublin-based novelist, film blogger and movie reviewer. She has studied Creative Writing and Film-Making. She has published a number of e-books on the following topics: horror film reviews, multi-genre film reviews, womens' fiction, erotic fiction, erotic horror fiction and erotic poetry. Several new books are currently in the pipeline. You can browse or buy any of Sandra's books by following the link below straight to her Amazon Author Page:

http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B015GDE5RO

 You can contact Sandra at:


http://sandrafirstruleoffilmclubharris.wordpress.com





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