The Marriage of Maria Braun

The Marriage of Maria Braun

Directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder • 1978 • West Germany
Starring Hanna Schygulla, Klaus Löwitsch, Ivan Desny

Maria (Hanna Schygulla) marries Hermann Braun in the last days of World War II, only for him to go missing in the war. Alone, Maria puts to use her beauty and ambition in order to find prosperity during Germany’s “economic miracle” of the 1950s. Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s biggest international box-office success, THE MARRIAGE OF MARIA BRAUN is a heartbreaking study of a woman picking herself up from the ruins of her own life, as well as a pointed metaphorical attack on a society determined to forget its past.

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The Marriage of Maria Braun
  • The Marriage of Maria Braun

    Directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder • 1978 • West Germany
    Starring Hanna Schygulla, Klaus Löwitsch, Ivan Desny

    Maria (Hanna Schygulla) marries Hermann Braun in the last days of World War II, only for him to go missing in the war. Alone, Maria puts to use her beauty and ambition in order to find...

Extras

  • THE MARRIAGE OF MARIA BRAUN Commentary

    This commentary features two of the major figures of the New German Cinema: Michael Ballhaus, cinematographer on many Fassbinder films; and Wim Wenders, Fassbinder’s friend and colleague, and the director of KINGS OF THE ROAD (1976), THE AMERICAN FRIEND (1977), and PARIS, TEXAS (1984), among many...

  • Hanna Schygulla on THE MARRIAGE OF MARIA BRAUN

    Hanna Schygulla starred in twenty Fassbinder film and television productions, including his first feature, LOVE IS COLDER THAN DEATH (1969), his television miniseries BERLIN ALEXANDERPLATZ (1980), and his most autobiographical film, THE BITTER TEARS OF PETRA VON KANT (1972). She was interviewed at h...

  • Eric Rentschler on THE MARRIAGE OF MARIA BRAUN

    Professor of German at Harvard University, Eric Rentschler began admiring and writing about the films of Rainer Werner Fassbinder in the ’70s. He is the author of “West German Film in the Course of Time” (1984) and “The Ministry of Illusion: Nazi Cinema and Its Afterlife” (1996). He was interview...

  • Life Stories: A Conversation with R.W. Fassbinder

    In January 1978, just before shooting began on THE MARRIAGE OF MARIA BRAUN, German film scholar Peter W. Jansen brought a 16 mm film crew to Rainer Werner Fassbinder's house in Paris. The result, LIFE STORIES: A CONVERSATION WITH R.W. FASSBINDER, is the longest interview with the director ever re...