Lili Marleen is a 1981 German drama film

Drama film

A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...

 directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder

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...

 and starring Hanna Schygulla

Hanna Schygulla

Hanna Schygulla is a German actress and chanson singer. She is generally considered the most prominent German actress of the New German Cinema.-Life and career:Schygulla was born in Königshütte, Upper Silesia,...

.

The screenplay was produced using the novel Der Himmel hat viele Farben (The Heavens Have Many Colors) by Lale Andersen

Lale Andersen

Lale Andersen was a German chanson singer-songwriter born in Bremerhaven, Germany. She is best known for her interpretation of the song "Lili Marleen" in 1939, which became tremendously popular on both sides during the Second World War.- Early life :She was born in Lehe and baptized Liese-Lotte...

. According to Lale Andersen's last husband, Arthur Beul, the film's plot bore little relation to her real life.

Plot

The film is set during the Third Reich and is about the forbidden love between the German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 singer Willie (Hanna Schygulla

Hanna Schygulla

Hanna Schygulla is a German actress and chanson singer. She is generally considered the most prominent German actress of the New German Cinema.-Life and career:Schygulla was born in Königshütte, Upper Silesia,...

) and the Swiss Jewish composer Robert Mendelsson (a character based on Rolf Liebermann

Rolf Liebermann

Rolf Liebermann , was a Swiss composer and music administrator born in Zurich, and associated with several different musical genres. His output included chansons, classical, and light music. His classical music often combines myriad styles and techniques, including those drawn from baroque,...

), who actively seeks to help an underground group of German Jews.

Cast

• Hanna Schygulla
  Hanna Schygulla
  Hanna Schygulla is a German actress and chanson singer. She is generally considered the most prominent German actress of the New German Cinema.-Life and career:Schygulla was born in Königshütte, Upper Silesia,...
  
   - Willie
• Giancarlo Giannini
  Giancarlo Giannini
  Giancarlo Giannini is an Italian actor and dubber.Giannini was born La Spezia, Liguria, Italy. He studied at the Accademia Nazionale d'Arte Drammatica in Rome, and made his film debut in a small part in Fango sulla metropoli in 1965...
  
   - Robert
• Mel Ferrer
  Mel Ferrer
  Mel Ferrer was an American actor, film director and film producer.-Early life:Ferrer was born Melchor Gastón Ferrer in Elberon, New Jersey, of Catalan and Irish descent. His father, Dr. José María Ferrer , was born in Cuba, was an authority on pneumonia and served as chief of staff of St....
  
   - David Mendelsson
• Karl-Heinz von Hassel - Henkel (as Karl Heinz von Hassel)
• Erik Schumann
  Erik Schumann
  Erik Schumann was a German actor. He appeared in 100 films and television shows between 1942 and 1997...
  
   - von Strehlow
• Hark Bohm
  Hark Bohm
  Hark Bohm is a German actor, screenwriter, film director, playwright and former professor for cinema studies. He was born in Hamburg-Othmarschen and grew up on the island Amrum. His younger brother was the actor Marquard Bohm, who starred in some of his early films...
  
   - Taschner
• Gottfried John
  Gottfried John
  -Life and work:During the 1970s and early 1980s, Gottfried John played various roles in films by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, notably that of Reinhold in the epic Berlin Alexanderplatz . He is internationally known for his portrayals of General Ourumov in the James Bond film GoldenEye and Julius...
  
   - Aaron
• Karin Baal
  Karin Baal
  Karin Baal , real name Karin Blauermel, is a German film actress. She has appeared in over 90 films since 1956.She was born in Berlin, Germany.-Films:*1956: Die Halbstarken*1957: Der müde Theodor...
  
   - Anna Lederer
• Christine Kaufmann
  Christine Kaufmann
  Christine Maria Kaufmann is a German actress. In 1961 she won the Golden Globe Award for New Star Of The Year - Actress, the only German to be so honoured....
  
   - Miriam
• Udo Kier
  Udo Kier
  Udo Kier is a German actor, known primarily for his work in horror and exploitation movies.-Early life:...
  
   - Drewitz
• Roger Fritz - Kauffmann
• Rainer Will - Bernt
• Raúl Gimenez
  Raúl Giménez
  Raúl Giménez , is an operatic tenor, particularly associated with the Italian bel canto repertory, in which he is considered one of the best exponent in recent years.Giménez was born in the small town of Carlos Pellegrini, Argentina...
  
   - Blonsky (as Raul Giminez)
• Adrian Hoven
  Adrian Hoven
  Adrian Hoven was an Austrian actor, producer and film director. He appeared in 100 films between 1947 and 1981.He was born in Wöllersdorf, Austria as Wilhelm Arpad Hofkirchner and died in Tegernsee, Germany....
  
   - Ginsberg
• Willy Harlander - Prosel

Awards and nominations

Of the 23 theatrical films that Fassbinder directed, Lili Marleen was the only one that Germany submitted to the Academy to be considered for a Best Foreign Language Film nomination (the film, while a German production, was one of the few that Fassbinder shot in English). Ultimately, the film was not nominated.

External links

• Fassbinder Foundation - Lili Marleen the movie
• José Antonio Bielsa Arbiol: Lili Marleen Cine y Revolución (Spanish)