Not Coming to a Theater Near You

Berlin Alexanderplatz / Chapter 1: The Punishment Begins / Germany / 1980

The first part (cheerfully titled “The Punishment Begins”) of Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s 15-hour made-for-TV magnum opus covers more emotional ground than most feature films do in their entire running time: it takes its protagonist, Franz Biberkopf, from a state of crippling depression following his release from a four-year prison sentence to a state of manic glee, back on top of the tiny section of the Berlin underworld he calls home. Gunter Lamprecht’s lead performance as Franz is impressively repulsive and yet heartbreakingly vulnerable at the same time, which is exactly what’s needed to carry off the despicable things Fassbinder makes him do. The fact that, having watched him rape one woman and beat another to death, I still care about what might happen to Franz in future installments is a testament to the insinuating emotional power of Lamprecht’s presence.

The other standout performance here, of course, is Fassbinder himself, not as actor but as director; though the film was made for the small screen, it’s among the most cinematically persuasive things he ever did. In it he exhibits all the hallmarks of his late style, making judicious use of ironic intertitles, gauzy light effects, multilayered music, campy melodrama, vicious cruelty, and fluid telephoto lens-aided camerawork. I haven’t quite sorted out all the elements in play yet, and I sort of doubt the film can keep up the same level of invention and provocation throughout without becoming completely exhausting. But I am certainly moved to, as they say, tune in next week.

by Evan Kindley | Source: Criterion Collection DVD
04 Mar 2008 10:43 PM | Submit Comment