Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980)

While on many best films lists (because it was shown in some movie theaters at the time), this German television production is a landmark in Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s career, his great magnum opus.   I’ve heard complaints that it’s so long at 15 and half hours but if you watch this as you would binge on a season of any television program today it’s very manageable.    Yet it does take patience and an understanding of the many influences of Fassbinder to enjoy it.   For one, it’s a unique viewing experience, a hybrid of film and theater.   Experimenting with Brechtian concepts Fassbinder creates multiple layers both with what you see and what you hear.   Unfortunately being an English speaker much of this is lost in translation.   What might also challenge many non-German speaking viewers is that with all the long bouts of dialogue and monologues throughout the story you might feel like you’re reading a book (with the subtitles) instead of watching the many amazing performances from its cast.  Gunter Lamprecht’s tortured portrayal of Franz Biberkopf is epic and in my mind one of the great performances in film history.   Add Babara Sukowa’s unforgettable creation as Mieze to counter Gunter and then Gottfried John as the loathing Reinhold and you have a work any lover of great acting must see.  Still various cinephiles talk of this series as an endurance test, and to be honest I can understand why.  It’s a different kind of beast, but one I found very rewarding, not just because it’s a fantastic character study of a demented and unusual human being, but, because it’s a historical document of an artistic collaboration unlike anything else out there, a real gritty work of art that sadly will probably be misunderstood and avoided because of its radical style and deplorable characters.   Which inspires the question: did I like the film for its story or the accomplishment?   It’s not
a happy experience but I hold it in high regard regardless.   Grade: A

Spoiler Alert
Below is a breakdown of the story (for those of you curious and don’t care about spoilers).

Part 1 “The Punishment Begins”
Franz Biberkopf gets out of prison for killing his girlfriend, Ida.  What does a murderer to do once free for such a crime?   Well, visit the twin sister of your victim and rape her.  (I repeat this is not a happy work.)  He drinks with an old friend named Meck and then gets a new girl friend named Lina.   He almost has to leave Berlin but is able to stay because he signs up with the Prisoners’ Aid.

Part 2 “How is One to Live if One Doesn’t Want to Die?”
Franz tries to get work, first by selling ties and then Nazi newspapers.   He has a lengthy conversation with a Jewish friend and a communist about the literature he’s hawking.  He’s really just a guy down on his luck trying to get by, trying to start his life again.  Back at the bar he challenges a group of communists by singing a German song to counter the Internationale.   Max’s bar is one of the main set pieces of the show.

Part 3 “A Hammer Blow to the Head Can Injure the Soul”
Lina sets Franz up with Otto who sells shoe laces.   Franz has sex with a widow while on his route and when he tells Otto, Otto takes advantage of the widow by stealing from her.   When Franz finds out what Otto did he violently rejects the man.  Lina ends up with Meck.   I really liked Franz and Lina’s relationship and was at first disappointed to see it end but that’s Franz for you, a real woman magnet.  (Who would have thought a girlfriend killing ex-con could attract so many women?)

Part 4 “A Handful of People in the Depths of Silence”
Alone and depressed, Franz drinks himself into a stupor.   This was probably my least favorite section.  

Part 5 “A Reaper with the Power of Our Lord”
We meet Eva (a prostitute who’s part mother and part sister to Franz), Pum (the gangster) and then Reinhold (the villain of the story).  Here Franz seduces Reinhold’s girlfriends for him when this supposed friend tires of them.   It’s a very ugly business, trading girls like leftovers and it’s a perfect way to demonstrate Reinhold’s character and his relationship with Franz.  It’s here the story of Franz gets interesting and more engaging.

Part 6 “Love Has Its Price”
Now with Cilly (one of Reinhold’s exs) Franz joins Pum on an illegal job.  As they drive away, Reinhold tosses Franz from a moving truck.  What a nice guy. 

Part 7 “Remember—An Oath can be Amputated”
Franz is alive but lost his right arm.  Eva and her boyfriend Herbert help him out. 

Part 8 “The Sun Warms the Skin, but Burns it Sometimes Too”
Eva introduces Franz to Mieze, the woman who ends up being Franz’ true love. 

Part 9 “About the Eternities Between the Many and the Few”
Mieze works as a prostitute to support Franz.  Franz at first doesn’t understand but soon accepts her.  Now Franz is her pimp.

Part 10 “Loneliness Tears Cracks of Madness Even in Walls”
Eva wants to have Franz’s baby and Mieze is delighted.  Franz first thinks she’s leaving him and but she only leaves with a client.  Still Franz is very sad.

Part 11 “Knowledge is Power and the Early Bird Catches the Worm”
Reinhold and Franz meet up and Franz wants him to meet Mieze.  While hiding (to surprise Mieze) he witnesses Franz beat up Mieze for admitting she loves someone else.  Reinhold saves her and then Mieze and Franz make up.   This is an amazing scene.  It’s violent, shocking and beautiful in an insane kind of way.  Gunter and Barbara deserve acting awards for what they did here; but alas, being this was some obscure television program, no one would receive any such accolades.    

Part 12 “The Serpent in the Soul of the Serpent”
That snake Reinhold gets Meck to set up a meeting with Mieze.   Reinhold kills her.   Remember that Franz considers this guy his best friend.   How messed up is that?

Part 13 “The Outside and the Inside and the Secret of Fear of the Secret”
Meck takes the police out to Mieze’s body and Franz is overjoyed to learn that Maize is dead, not because she’s dead but because that means she loved him and had not left him.  

Part 14 “My Dream of the Dream of Franz Biberkopf by Alfred Doblin, An Epilogue”
Here we have the experimental theater aspect of the project with Franz dreaming of everything from being processed in a meat packing plant and another scene where he gets crucified.   It’s surreal and very theater of cruelty.  My only probably with this section is that it’s a bit long and uneven.   But still this section has many visuals to force one to think.  When awakened from his dream, Franz testifies at Mieze’s murder trial.  Reinhold is sent to prison and Eva has a miscarriage.  Franz finds work in a garage.