BRD Trilogy
Encyclopedia
The BRD Trilogy consists of three films directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder
: The Marriage of Maria Braun
(1979), Veronika Voss (1982), and Lola
(1981). The films are connected in a thematic rather than in a narrative sense. All three deal with different characters (though some actors recur in different roles) and plotlines, but each one focuses on the story of a specific woman in West Germany
after World War II
. The three letter acronym "BRD" stands for Bundesrepublik Deutschland, the official name of West Germany and of the united contemporary Germany.
(1979) begins in the last days of World War II during the rushed marriage ceremony of Maria Braun, after which her husband is sent to battle the advancing Allies
. After Maria later hears that he has been killed, she becomes the mistress of an African-American
soldier. When Maria’s husband unexpectedly returns alive, she kills the soldier in a scuffle, but her husband takes the blame. Maria becomes the self-centered assistant and lover of a wealthy industrialist and a model of post-war recovery.
s in order to steal her wealth. Despite his best attempts, he is unable to save her from a terrible end. The original German title, Die Sehnsucht der Veronika Voss, translates as "The longing of Veronika Voss".
(1981) is loosely based on Josef von Sternberg
’s The Blue Angel
and its source novel Professor Unrat by Heinrich Mann
. It tells the story of an upright new building commissioner named Von Bohm who comes to a small town. He falls in love with Lola, innocent of the fact that she is a famed prostitute and the mistress of Shuckert, an unscrupulous developer. Unable to reconcile his idealistic images of Lola with reality, Von Bohm spirals into the very corruption he had sought to fight.
during the "economic miracle
" of the 1950s. The main characters were all female, representing different people in different circumstances. While the original treatments
and stories were developed by Fassbinder himself, the detailed scripts for all three films were written by screenwriter
Peter Märthesheimer
, who had worked with the director as a commissioning producer and script editor of some of his TV projects, with the help of his then partner Pea Fröhlich.
The films were shot and released in a slightly different order to their accepted numbering. Maria Braun, released in 1979, is the earliest in terms of both production and the chronology of the plot, beginning in 1945. However it only became part of the trilogy retrospectively, when Fassbinder added the caption "BRD 3" to Lola when it was released in 1981. Veronika Voss, released a year later as Fassbinder's penultimate film before his death, included the caption "BRD 2" and is set in a slightly earlier period than Lola. Fassbinder did not intend the series to stop at a trilogy
but his plans to make further films in the same mould were cut short by his death.
The trilogy was released in a DVD
box set by the Criterion Collection in September 2003.
," there are other threads that tie these three distinct films together.
One common thread is the issue of "forgetting the past for the sake of moving to a brighter future." All the main characters in the three films are trying to overcome their present circumstances, largely created by past experiences. This is a criticism by Fassbinder of West Germany in the 1950s and afterward for "forgetting" its Nazi
period (i.e. allowing former Nazi officials to function in society, even holding positions of political power) and moving ahead as a country (i.e. regaining international respectability and prestige). The painful past is neither acknowledged nor confronted in the historical amnesia.
A second parallel is the question of who exactly benefited from West Germany's economic progress. Fassbinder's view was clearly that some Germans advanced during the "economic miracle," but others fell. For everyone who has a better life (more wealth, security, and peace), someone else suffers and loses. Veronika Voss is an example of someone who does not benefit in Germany after the war because her acting career was most prominent during the Third Reich
. Maria Braun is someone who takes a strong initiative to advance economically for the sake of herself and her husband, but she hurts others in the process and in the end is emotionally distant from her husband and her family. Lola tries to take advantage of economic progress and uses her position for advancement, but others who surround her try to achieve the same end with mixed results.
An additional commonality is the inclusion of African-American
soldiers in all three films. In The Marriage of Maria Braun there are two, a gentlemanly soldier who becomes Maria's lover and another who drunkenly accosts her on a train. The latter character is played by Günther Kaufmann
, who also plays African-American soldiers in the other two films. It is unclear if the soldier is supposed to be the same person in all three films. The soldier can be taken as a representation of the influence of the American occupation on post-war Germany, though the fact that he is African-American could have other implications.
Each of the films employs a very distinctive style (especially in its cinematography
) to better reflect the characters. The Marriage of Maria Braun appears with much of its color drained. Veronika Voss uses a very rich black and white, similar to film noir
or German Expressionist
films of the 1920s. Lola is influenced by Josef von Sternberg's
The Blue Angel
and uses very bold colors in a manner similar to Technicolor
.
Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Rainer Werner Maria Fassbinder was a German movie director, screenwriter and actor. He is considered one of the most important representatives of the New German Cinema.He maintained a frenetic pace in film-making...
: The Marriage of Maria Braun
The Marriage of Maria Braun
The Marriage of Maria Braun is a 1979 West German film directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder. The film stars Hanna Schygulla as Maria, whose marriage with the soldier Hermann remained unfulfilled due to World War II and his post-war imprisonment...
(1979), Veronika Voss (1982), and Lola
Lola (film)
Lola is a 1981 West German film directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder. It is the second in his BRD Trilogy: the first film is The Marriage of Maria Braun and the third is Veronika Voss .-Plot:...
(1981). The films are connected in a thematic rather than in a narrative sense. All three deal with different characters (though some actors recur in different roles) and plotlines, but each one focuses on the story of a specific woman in West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The three letter acronym "BRD" stands for Bundesrepublik Deutschland, the official name of West Germany and of the united contemporary Germany.
The Marriage of Maria Braun
The Marriage of Maria BraunThe Marriage of Maria Braun
The Marriage of Maria Braun is a 1979 West German film directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder. The film stars Hanna Schygulla as Maria, whose marriage with the soldier Hermann remained unfulfilled due to World War II and his post-war imprisonment...
(1979) begins in the last days of World War II during the rushed marriage ceremony of Maria Braun, after which her husband is sent to battle the advancing Allies
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
. After Maria later hears that he has been killed, she becomes the mistress of an African-American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
soldier. When Maria’s husband unexpectedly returns alive, she kills the soldier in a scuffle, but her husband takes the blame. Maria becomes the self-centered assistant and lover of a wealthy industrialist and a model of post-war recovery.
Veronika Voss
Veronika Voss (1982) depicts the twilight years of film actress Veronika Voss in stark black-and-white. A sports reporter becomes enthralled by the unbalanced actress and discovers that she is under the power of a villainous doctor who keeps her addicted to opiateOpiate
In medicine, the term opiate describes any of the narcotic opioid alkaloids found as natural products in the opium poppy plant.-Overview:Opiates are so named because they are constituents or derivatives of constituents found in opium, which is processed from the latex sap of the opium poppy,...
s in order to steal her wealth. Despite his best attempts, he is unable to save her from a terrible end. The original German title, Die Sehnsucht der Veronika Voss, translates as "The longing of Veronika Voss".
Lola
LolaLola (film)
Lola is a 1981 West German film directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder. It is the second in his BRD Trilogy: the first film is The Marriage of Maria Braun and the third is Veronika Voss .-Plot:...
(1981) is loosely based on Josef von Sternberg
Josef von Sternberg
Josef von Sternberg — born Jonas Sternberg — was an Austrian-American film director. He is particularly noted for his distinctive mise en scène, use of lighting and soft lens, and seven-film collaboration with actress Marlene Dietrich.-Youth:Von Sternberg was born Jonas Sternberg to a Jewish...
’s The Blue Angel
Der blaue Engel
The Blue Angel is a film directed by Josef von Sternberg in 1930, based on Heinrich Mann's novel Professor Unrat. The film is considered to be the first major German sound film and it brought world fame to actress Marlene Dietrich...
and its source novel Professor Unrat by Heinrich Mann
Heinrich Mann
Luiz Heinrich Mann was a German novelist who wrote works with strong social themes. His attacks on the authoritarian and increasingly militaristic nature of pre-World War II German society led to his exile in 1933.-Life and work:Born in Lübeck as the oldest child of Thomas Johann Heinrich Mann...
. It tells the story of an upright new building commissioner named Von Bohm who comes to a small town. He falls in love with Lola, innocent of the fact that she is a famed prostitute and the mistress of Shuckert, an unscrupulous developer. Unable to reconcile his idealistic images of Lola with reality, Von Bohm spirals into the very corruption he had sought to fight.
Background and Structure
Fassbinder had the idea of making a series of films that focus on West GermanyWest Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
during the "economic miracle
Wirtschaftswunder
The term describes the rapid reconstruction and development of the economies of West Germany and Austria after World War II . The expression was used by The Times in 1950...
" of the 1950s. The main characters were all female, representing different people in different circumstances. While the original treatments
Film treatment
A film treatment is a piece of prose, typically the step between scene cards and the first draft of a screenplay for a motion picture, television program, or radio play. It is generally longer and more detailed than an outline , and it may include details of directorial style that an outline omits...
and stories were developed by Fassbinder himself, the detailed scripts for all three films were written by screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
Peter Märthesheimer
Peter Märthesheimer
Peter Märthesheimer was a German screenwriter, producer and author.-External links:...
, who had worked with the director as a commissioning producer and script editor of some of his TV projects, with the help of his then partner Pea Fröhlich.
The films were shot and released in a slightly different order to their accepted numbering. Maria Braun, released in 1979, is the earliest in terms of both production and the chronology of the plot, beginning in 1945. However it only became part of the trilogy retrospectively, when Fassbinder added the caption "BRD 3" to Lola when it was released in 1981. Veronika Voss, released a year later as Fassbinder's penultimate film before his death, included the caption "BRD 2" and is set in a slightly earlier period than Lola. Fassbinder did not intend the series to stop at a trilogy
Trilogy
A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected, and that can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, or video games...
but his plans to make further films in the same mould were cut short by his death.
The trilogy was released in a DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
box set by the Criterion Collection in September 2003.
Unifying Elements
Aside from Fassbinder's original intentions of making films about West Germany after World War II and during the "economic miracleWirtschaftswunder
The term describes the rapid reconstruction and development of the economies of West Germany and Austria after World War II . The expression was used by The Times in 1950...
," there are other threads that tie these three distinct films together.
One common thread is the issue of "forgetting the past for the sake of moving to a brighter future." All the main characters in the three films are trying to overcome their present circumstances, largely created by past experiences. This is a criticism by Fassbinder of West Germany in the 1950s and afterward for "forgetting" its Nazi
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
period (i.e. allowing former Nazi officials to function in society, even holding positions of political power) and moving ahead as a country (i.e. regaining international respectability and prestige). The painful past is neither acknowledged nor confronted in the historical amnesia.
A second parallel is the question of who exactly benefited from West Germany's economic progress. Fassbinder's view was clearly that some Germans advanced during the "economic miracle," but others fell. For everyone who has a better life (more wealth, security, and peace), someone else suffers and loses. Veronika Voss is an example of someone who does not benefit in Germany after the war because her acting career was most prominent during the Third Reich
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
. Maria Braun is someone who takes a strong initiative to advance economically for the sake of herself and her husband, but she hurts others in the process and in the end is emotionally distant from her husband and her family. Lola tries to take advantage of economic progress and uses her position for advancement, but others who surround her try to achieve the same end with mixed results.
An additional commonality is the inclusion of African-American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
soldiers in all three films. In The Marriage of Maria Braun there are two, a gentlemanly soldier who becomes Maria's lover and another who drunkenly accosts her on a train. The latter character is played by Günther Kaufmann
Günther Kaufmann
Günther Kaufmann is a German film actor best known for his association with director Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Fassbinder directed Kaufmann in a total of 14 films, casting him in a variety of leading and minor roles...
, who also plays African-American soldiers in the other two films. It is unclear if the soldier is supposed to be the same person in all three films. The soldier can be taken as a representation of the influence of the American occupation on post-war Germany, though the fact that he is African-American could have other implications.
Each of the films employs a very distinctive style (especially in its cinematography
Cinematography
Cinematography is the making of lighting and camera choices when recording photographic images for cinema. It is closely related to the art of still photography...
) to better reflect the characters. The Marriage of Maria Braun appears with much of its color drained. Veronika Voss uses a very rich black and white, similar to film noir
Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
or German Expressionist
German Expressionism
German Expressionism refers to a number of related creative movements beginning in Germany before the First World War that reached a peak in Berlin, during the 1920s...
films of the 1920s. Lola is influenced by Josef von Sternberg's
Josef von Sternberg
Josef von Sternberg — born Jonas Sternberg — was an Austrian-American film director. He is particularly noted for his distinctive mise en scène, use of lighting and soft lens, and seven-film collaboration with actress Marlene Dietrich.-Youth:Von Sternberg was born Jonas Sternberg to a Jewish...
The Blue Angel
Der blaue Engel
The Blue Angel is a film directed by Josef von Sternberg in 1930, based on Heinrich Mann's novel Professor Unrat. The film is considered to be the first major German sound film and it brought world fame to actress Marlene Dietrich...
and uses very bold colors in a manner similar to Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
.