The Marriage of Maria Braun
Encyclopedia
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. Maria adapts to the realities of post-war Germany and becomes the wealthy mistress of an industrialist, all the while staying true to her love to Hermann. The film was one of the more successful works of Fassbinder and shaped the image of the New German Cinema
in foreign countries. The film is the first in Fassbinder's BRD Trilogy
, followed by Veronika Voss and Lola
.
) marries the soldier Hermann Braun (Klaus Löwitsch
). After "half a day and a whole night" together, Hermann returns to the front. Postwar, Maria is told that Hermann has been killed. Maria starts work as a hostess in a bar frequented by American soldiers. She has a relationship with an African-American soldier Bill (George Byrd
), who supports her and gives her nylon stockings and cigarettes. She becomes pregnant by Bill.
Hermann, who was not killed, returns home to discover Maria and Bill undressing each other. A fight between Hermann and Bill ensues. When Hermann seems in danger Maria unintentionally kills Bill striking his head with a full bottle. Maria is tried by a military tribune, and expresses her love for both Bill and Hermann - Hermann is so struck with Maria's devotion that he takes the blame for the killing and is imprisoned. Maria likely aborts her pregnancy and asks her doctor promise to maintain the grave. On the train home, Maria catches the eye of a wealthy industrialist, Karl Oswald (Ivan Desny
). Oswald, an older man, offers her a position as his assistant, and shortly thereafter Maria becomes his mistress to "maintain the upper hand". Maria visits Hermann again and tells him about the development, promising that their life will start as soon as he is released. Maria becomes wealthy and buys a house.
Oswald visits Hermann and offers to make him and Maria heirs to his wealth if Hermann deserts Maria after his release. Neither man tells Maria of their agreement. On release, Hermann emigrates to Canada and sends Maria a red rose each month to remind her he still loves her. Following Oswald's death Hermann returns to Germany and to Maria. When Oswald's will is read by the executor Senkenberg (Hark Bohm
) Maria hears about Oswald's agreement with Hermann. Distressed, Maria lights a cigarette and dies when the gas explodes. She had left the gas knob turned on from lighting a previous cigarette.
on the unrealized television project The Marriage of our Parents (Die Ehen unserer Eltern), which was developed after the critical success of the omnibus film
Germany in Autumn
. Fassbinder worked on a draft screenplay together with Klaus-Dieter Lang and Kurt Raab
and presented it in the early summer of 1977 to his longtime collaborator Peter Märthesheimer
, who at that time was working as a dramaturge at the Bavaria Film Studios
. In August 1977 Märthesheimer and his partner Pea Fröhlich, a professor of psychology and pedagogics, were commissioned to write a screenplay based on the draft together. Although it was Märthesheimer's and Fröhlich's first screenplay their knowledge of Fassbinder's works allowed them to match the screenplay to the characteristic style and structure of Fassbinder's other works. Fassbinder changed only a few details in the completed screenplay, including some dialogues and the end of the film. Instead of Maria Braun committing suicide in a car accident she dies in a gas explosion, leaving it unclear whether she committed suicide or died accidentally.
The producer of the film was Fassbinder's longtime collaborator Michael Fengler
with his production company Albatros Filmproduktion. Fengler planned to start shooting the film in the first half of 1978, as Fassbinder's next project Berlin Alexanderplatz
was scheduled for June 1978. As Fassbinder was embroiled in a controversy over his stage play Der Müll, die Stadt und der Tod he was not ready for starting to shoot the film and withdrew to Paris, where he worked on the screenplay for Berlin Alexanderplatz. Fengler was dreaming of an international star cast for the film. On his suggestion Fassbinder and Fengler visited Romy Schneider
and asked her to play the role of Maria Braun. Due to Romy Schneiders alcohol problems, fickleness and demands the role was then given to Hanna Schygulla
, her first collaboration with Fassbinder in four years. Yves Montand
also showed interest in the film, but wanted to play Maria's husband Hermann and not - as suggested by Fassbinder and Fengler - the industrialist Oswald. As the role of Hermann was already promised to Klaus Löwitsch
Montand was ultimately not offered any role.
566,000 DM, the German Film Board 400,000 DM and the distributor guaranted another 150,000 DM. This forced Fengler to find another financing partner, offering Hanns Eckelkamp
's Trio-Film a share in the film in December 1977. Fengler had promised Fassbinder's Tango-Film a share of 50 percent of the film profits, but as Fengler - by offering Trio-Film a share in the film - effectively overselled the rights only 15 percent of the film right ultimately remained with Fassbinder. Fassbinder subsequently referred to Fengler as gangster and it led to litigations against Fengler that continued even after Fassbinder's death.
Shooting began in January 1978 in Coburg
. Bad-tempered and quarrelsome, Fassbinder shot the film during the day and worked on the script to Berlin Alexanderplatz during the night. In order to sustain his work schedule he consumed large quantities of cocaine, supplied by the production manager Harry Baer
and the actor Peter Berling
. According to Berling this was the main reason why the film went over the budget, as the cash for the cocaine was coming from Fengler.
In February 1978 the budget was reaching 1.7 million DM, and two most expensive scenes - the explosions at the beginning and at the end of the film - had not yet been shot. By this time Fassbinder had learned about Fenglers deal with Eckelkamp and the overselling of the film rights. He felt deceived and broke with his longtime collaborator Fengler. He demanded the status of a co-producer for himself and obtained an injunction against Fengler and Eckelkamp. Fassbinder fired most of the film crew, ended the shooting in Coburg at the end of February and the moved to Berlin
, where he finished shooting the last scenes. Consequently the biographer Thomas Elsaesser called the production of the film "one of Fassbinder's least happy experiences" and Berling even "one of the decisive self-destructive episodes in Rainer's life" The production was also the last collaboration between Fassbinder and the cinematographer Michael Ballhaus
, with whom Fassbinder had previously shot eleven films.
on the editing and post-production of The Marriage of Maria Braun. The failure of Despair
at the Cannes Film Festival
in May 1978 spurred Fassbinder to prepare an answer print
overnight and to present the film on 22 May 1978 to German film producers in a private screening. Attended by, among others Horst Wendlandt
, Sam Waynberg, Karl Spiehs
, Günter Rohrbach and the majority shareholder of the Filmverlag der Autoren
, Rudolf Augstein
the screening was a success. Eckelkamp invested a further 473,000 DM to pay off the debts of the film production and became the sole owner of the rights to the film. Owning all film rights, Eckelkamp negotiated a distribution deal with United Artists
, thus outmaneuvering the Filmverlag der Autoren, which was usually distributing Fassbinder's films.
Hoping that The Marriage of Maria Braun might be successful at the 1979 Berlin International Film Festival
Eckelkamp started a marketing campaign and decided to release the film theatrically in March 1979. Commissioned by Eckelkamp, the author Gerhard Zwerenz novelized the film. It was published in several weekly installments in the magazine Der Stern
from March over a period of three months, thus increasing public interest in the film. The official premiere of the film was on 20 February 1979 during the 29th Berlin International Film Festival
. The West German theatrical release was on 23 March 1979. At the Berlin International Film Festival Hanna Schygulla won the Silver Bear for Best Actress
, which did not satisfy Fassbinder who expected to win the Golden Bear
.
Hans-Christoph Blumenberg called the film "the most accessible (and thus most commercial) and mature work of the director". Karena Niehoff wrote in the daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung
that The Marriage of Maria Braun "is a charming and even amusing film, at the same extraordinarily artful, artificial and full of twists and turns".
Hanna Schygulla was praised by many film critics. In the Süddeutsche Zeitung on 23 March 1979 Gottfried Knapp wrote that the director gave her a magnificent opportunity to display her acting talent, and that her character, emotions, charm and energy had an enormous effect. The film and Hanna Schygulla were also praised by foreign film critics. In The New Yorker
David Denby
called Schygulla "an improbable cross between Dietrich
and Harlow
". Schygulla, too, was the runner-up for the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress that year, losing to Sally Field
for Norma Rae
.
François Truffaut
commented in 1980 in the Cahiers du cinéma
that with this film Fassbinder "has broken out of the ivory tower of the cinephiles", and that the film is "an original work of epic and poetic qualities" influenced by Godard's
Contempt
, Brecht, Wedekind
and Douglas Sirk
. In particular touching is his idea of a man who looks on men and on women with equal fondness. The French film critic Jean de Baroncelli discussed the allegorical qualities of the film in Le Monde
on 19 Januaryy 1980 and wrote that the film presents Maria Braun with a "shining simplicity" as an allegory of Germany, "a character, that wears flashy and expensive clothes, but has lost her soul".
The film was not the official German submission to the 51st Academy Awards
for Best Foreign Language Film
. Instead Hans W. Geißendörfer's The Glass Cell
was chosen to be the official German submission. Almost one year later the film was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film
at the 37th Golden Globe Awards
, but this success was overshadowed by the success of Volker Schlöndorff
's The Tin Drum
at the 52nd Academy Awards
. The commercial success of The Marriage of Maria Braun strengthened the negotiation position of Fassbinder in his subsequent film projects. He received a financing agreement for one of his favorite projects based on Pitigrilli
's novel Cocaine and was able to increase the budget for Berlin Alexanderplatz. Several German commercial film producers expressed an interest in making films with Fassbinder. The seasoned film producer Luggi Waldleitner would produce the Fassbinder film Lili Marleen
with Hanna Schygulla in the main role. Horst Wendlandt
would produce the two other films in the BRD Trilogy, Lola and Veronika Voss. His success also allowed him to realize his last project, Querelle
which was co-financed by Gaumont
.
As Fengler had oversold the rights to the film. the profit share of Fassbinder was an open question. Eckelkamp saw himself as the sole owner of all rights, but sent a check in the amount of 70,000 DM to Fassbinder in 1982 to appease the director. After Fassbinder's death his mother and heiress Liselotte Eder revived the claims, but was rejected by Eckelkamp. In the course of legal proceedings Eckelkamp was ordered in 1986 to disclose the film's finances to the newly founded Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation. Eckelkamp's Trio Film disclosed a budget of almost 2 million DM, additional marketing costs of 1 million DM and a net profit of 1 million DM. When Trio-Film was ordered to pay to Fassbinder's heirs 290,000 DM Eckelkamp refused. At the request of the Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation Trio Film had to declare bankruptcy in 1988. In the course of the continuing legal proceedings, the Oberlandesgericht
Düsseldorf
certified in 1990 that Fassbinder was not a co-producer of the film. The ruling was upheld by the Federal Court of Justice
, but also ruled that the Fassbinder heirs were entitled to a share of the film's profits. Today all film rights are owned by the Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation.
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 film stars 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,...
as Maria, whose marriage with the soldier Hermann remained unfulfilled due to World War II and his post-war imprisonment. Maria adapts to the realities of post-war Germany and becomes the wealthy mistress of an industrialist, all the while staying true to her love to Hermann. The film was one of the more successful works of Fassbinder and shaped the image of the New German Cinema
New German Cinema
New German cinema is a period in German cinema which lasted from the late 1960s into the 1980s. It saw the emergence of a new generation of directors...
in foreign countries. The film is the first in Fassbinder's BRD Trilogy
BRD Trilogy
The BRD Trilogy consists of three films directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder: The Marriage of Maria Braun , Veronika Voss , and Lola . The films are connected in a thematic rather than in a narrative sense...
, followed by Veronika Voss 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:...
.
Plot
The film starts in Germany in 1943. During an Allied bombing raid Maria (Hanna SchygullaHanna 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,...
) marries the soldier Hermann Braun (Klaus Löwitsch
Klaus Löwitsch
Klaus Löwitsch was a German actor, best known in Germany for his starring role in the television detective series Peter Strohm....
). After "half a day and a whole night" together, Hermann returns to the front. Postwar, Maria is told that Hermann has been killed. Maria starts work as a hostess in a bar frequented by American soldiers. She has a relationship with an African-American soldier Bill (George Byrd
George Byrd
George Byrd was an American conductor. Since the 1980s he performed mainly in Germany....
), who supports her and gives her nylon stockings and cigarettes. She becomes pregnant by Bill.
Hermann, who was not killed, returns home to discover Maria and Bill undressing each other. A fight between Hermann and Bill ensues. When Hermann seems in danger Maria unintentionally kills Bill striking his head with a full bottle. Maria is tried by a military tribune, and expresses her love for both Bill and Hermann - Hermann is so struck with Maria's devotion that he takes the blame for the killing and is imprisoned. Maria likely aborts her pregnancy and asks her doctor promise to maintain the grave. On the train home, Maria catches the eye of a wealthy industrialist, Karl Oswald (Ivan Desny
Ivan Desny
Ivan Nikolai Desnitskij was a Russian actor born in China who worked for most of his life in Germany.-Career:Desny was a film/movie actor. He acted in more than 150 films, most of them German...
). Oswald, an older man, offers her a position as his assistant, and shortly thereafter Maria becomes his mistress to "maintain the upper hand". Maria visits Hermann again and tells him about the development, promising that their life will start as soon as he is released. Maria becomes wealthy and buys a house.
Oswald visits Hermann and offers to make him and Maria heirs to his wealth if Hermann deserts Maria after his release. Neither man tells Maria of their agreement. On release, Hermann emigrates to Canada and sends Maria a red rose each month to remind her he still loves her. Following Oswald's death Hermann returns to Germany and to Maria. When Oswald's will is read by the executor Senkenberg (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...
) Maria hears about Oswald's agreement with Hermann. Distressed, Maria lights a cigarette and dies when the gas explodes. She had left the gas knob turned on from lighting a previous cigarette.
Writing and Pre-production
The idea for The Marriage of Maria Braun can be traced to the collaboration of Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Alexander KlugeAlexander Kluge
Alexander Kluge is an author and film director.-Early life, education and early career:Kluge was born in Halberstadt, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany....
on the unrealized television project The Marriage of our Parents (Die Ehen unserer Eltern), which was developed after the critical success of the omnibus film
Anthology film
An anthology film is a feature film consisting of several different short films, often tied together by only a single theme, premise, or brief interlocking event . Sometimes each one is directed by a different director...
Germany in Autumn
Germany in Autumn
Germany in Autumn is a 1978 West German omnibus film about the German Autumn. The film is composed of contributions from different filmmakers, including Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Edgar Reitz and Volker Schlöndorff. It was entered into the 28th Berlin International Film Festival, where it won a...
. Fassbinder worked on a draft screenplay together with Klaus-Dieter Lang and Kurt Raab
Kurt Raab
Kurt Raab was a West German stage and film actor, as well as a screenwriter and playwright. Raab is best remembered for his work with cult German film director, Rainer Werner Fassbinder with whom he collaborated on 31 film projects.-Biography:Raab was born in Bergreichenstein, Sudetenland, what is...
and presented it in the early summer of 1977 to his longtime collaborator Peter Märthesheimer
Peter Märthesheimer
Peter Märthesheimer was a German screenwriter, producer and author.-External links:...
, who at that time was working as a dramaturge at the Bavaria Film Studios
Bavaria Film Studios
The Bavaria Film in Geiselgasteig, a district of Munich's suburb Grünwald, Bavaria belongs to one of Europe's biggest and most famous film production companies.- History :...
. In August 1977 Märthesheimer and his partner Pea Fröhlich, a professor of psychology and pedagogics, were commissioned to write a screenplay based on the draft together. Although it was Märthesheimer's and Fröhlich's first screenplay their knowledge of Fassbinder's works allowed them to match the screenplay to the characteristic style and structure of Fassbinder's other works. Fassbinder changed only a few details in the completed screenplay, including some dialogues and the end of the film. Instead of Maria Braun committing suicide in a car accident she dies in a gas explosion, leaving it unclear whether she committed suicide or died accidentally.
The producer of the film was Fassbinder's longtime collaborator Michael Fengler
Michael Fengler
Michael Fengler is a German film producer, director and screenwriter. In 1970, along with Rainer Werner Fassbinder, he co-directed the film Why Does Herr R. Run Amok?. It was entered into the 20th Berlin International Film Festival....
with his production company Albatros Filmproduktion. Fengler planned to start shooting the film in the first half of 1978, as Fassbinder's next project Berlin Alexanderplatz
Berlin Alexanderplatz (television)
Berlin Alexanderplatz, originally broadcast in 1980, is a 14-part television film adapted and directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder from the Alfred Döblin novel of the same name, and stars Günter Lamprecht, Hanna Schygulla, Barbara Sukowa, Elisabeth Trissenaar and Gottfried John...
was scheduled for June 1978. As Fassbinder was embroiled in a controversy over his stage play Der Müll, die Stadt und der Tod he was not ready for starting to shoot the film and withdrew to Paris, where he worked on the screenplay for Berlin Alexanderplatz. Fengler was dreaming of an international star cast for the film. On his suggestion Fassbinder and Fengler visited Romy Schneider
Romy Schneider
Romy Schneider was an Austrian-born German film actress who also held French citizenship.-Early life:Schneider was born Rosemarie Magdalena Albach in Nazi-era Vienna, six months after the Anschluss, into a family of actors that included her paternal grandmother Rosa Albach-Retty, her Austrian...
and asked her to play the role of Maria Braun. Due to Romy Schneiders alcohol problems, fickleness and demands the role was then given to 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,...
, her first collaboration with Fassbinder in four years. Yves Montand
Yves Montand
-Early life:Montand was born Ivo Livi in Monsummano Terme, Italy, the son of poor peasants Giuseppina and Giovanni Livi, a broommaker. Montand's mother was a devout Catholic, while his father held strong Communist beliefs. Because of the Fascist regime in Italy, Montand's family left for France in...
also showed interest in the film, but wanted to play Maria's husband Hermann and not - as suggested by Fassbinder and Fengler - the industrialist Oswald. As the role of Hermann was already promised to Klaus Löwitsch
Klaus Löwitsch
Klaus Löwitsch was a German actor, best known in Germany for his starring role in the television detective series Peter Strohm....
Montand was ultimately not offered any role.
Production
From its beginnings, the financing of The Marriage of Maria Braun was precarious. Albatros Filmproduktion only contributed 42,500 DM, the public broadcaster Westdeutscher RundfunkWestdeutscher Rundfunk
Westdeutscher Rundfunk is a German public-broadcasting institution based in the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia with its main office in Cologne. WDR is a constituent member of the consortium of German public-broadcasting institutions, ARD...
566,000 DM, the German Film Board 400,000 DM and the distributor guaranted another 150,000 DM. This forced Fengler to find another financing partner, offering Hanns Eckelkamp
Hanns Eckelkamp
Hanns Eckelkamp is a German film producer and founder of Atlas Filmverleih.-External links:*...
's Trio-Film a share in the film in December 1977. Fengler had promised Fassbinder's Tango-Film a share of 50 percent of the film profits, but as Fengler - by offering Trio-Film a share in the film - effectively overselled the rights only 15 percent of the film right ultimately remained with Fassbinder. Fassbinder subsequently referred to Fengler as gangster and it led to litigations against Fengler that continued even after Fassbinder's death.
Shooting began in January 1978 in Coburg
Coburg
Coburg is a town located on the Itz River in Bavaria, Germany. Its 2005 population was 42,015. Long one of the Thuringian states of the Wettin line, it joined with Bavaria by popular vote in 1920...
. Bad-tempered and quarrelsome, Fassbinder shot the film during the day and worked on the script to Berlin Alexanderplatz during the night. In order to sustain his work schedule he consumed large quantities of cocaine, supplied by the production manager Harry Baer
Harry Baer
Harry Baer is a German actor, producer and author. Notable for his work with Rainer Werner Fassbinder.-Life:...
and the actor Peter Berling
Peter Berling
Peter Berling is a German actor and writer. He has worked on several occasions with director Werner Herzog, in his collaborations with actor Klaus Kinski....
. According to Berling this was the main reason why the film went over the budget, as the cash for the cocaine was coming from Fengler.
In February 1978 the budget was reaching 1.7 million DM, and two most expensive scenes - the explosions at the beginning and at the end of the film - had not yet been shot. By this time Fassbinder had learned about Fenglers deal with Eckelkamp and the overselling of the film rights. He felt deceived and broke with his longtime collaborator Fengler. He demanded the status of a co-producer for himself and obtained an injunction against Fengler and Eckelkamp. Fassbinder fired most of the film crew, ended the shooting in Coburg at the end of February and the moved to Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, where he finished shooting the last scenes. Consequently the biographer Thomas Elsaesser called the production of the film "one of Fassbinder's least happy experiences" and Berling even "one of the decisive self-destructive episodes in Rainer's life" The production was also the last collaboration between Fassbinder and the cinematographer Michael Ballhaus
Michael Ballhaus
Michael Ballhaus, A.S.C. is a German cinematographer. In 1990, he was the Head of the Jury at the 40th Berlin International Film Festival.- Life and career :...
, with whom Fassbinder had previously shot eleven films.
Release
In parallel to the preparations for the production of Berlin Alexanderplatz Fassbinder worked with film editor Juliane LorenzJuliane Lorenz
Juliane Lorenz is a German film editor best known for her work with and relationship to director Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Lorenz is the head of the Fassbinder Foundation, an organization that seeks to preserve and promote the filmmaker's legacy...
on the editing and post-production of The Marriage of Maria Braun. The failure of Despair
Despair (film)
Despair is a 1978 film directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder and starring Dirk Bogarde, based on the novel of the same name by Vladimir Nabokov...
at the Cannes Film Festival
1978 Cannes Film Festival
The 31st Cannes Film Festival was held on May 16-30. This festival saw the introduction of a new non-competitive section, 'Un Certain Regard', which replaces 'Les Yeux Fertiles' , 'L'Air du temps' and 'Le Passé composé'.- Jury :*Alan J...
in May 1978 spurred Fassbinder to prepare an answer print
Answer print
Answer print refers to the first version of a given motion picture that is printed to film after color correction on an interpositive. It is also the first version of the movie printed to film with the sound properly synced to the picture....
overnight and to present the film on 22 May 1978 to German film producers in a private screening. Attended by, among others Horst Wendlandt
Horst Wendlandt
Horst Wendlandt was a German film producer. He produced 99 films between 1956 and 2002.He was born and died in Berlin, Germany.-Selected filmography:* Pappa ante Portas * L'as des as * Lola...
, Sam Waynberg, Karl Spiehs
Karl Spiehs
Karl Spiehs is an Austrian film producer. He has produced nearly 90 films since 1961. He was born in Blindendorf, Austria.-Selected filmography:* The Last Ride to Santa Cruz * Killer's Carnival...
, Günter Rohrbach and the majority shareholder of the Filmverlag der Autoren
Filmverlag der Autoren
Filmverlag der Autoren is a German film distributor originally founded in 1971 to help finance and distribute independent films by German Autorenfilm directors, that is directors who are renowned for predominantly adapting their own screenplays...
, Rudolf Augstein
Rudolf Augstein
Rudolf Karl Augstein was one of the most influential German journalists, founder and part-owner of Der Spiegel magazine....
the screening was a success. Eckelkamp invested a further 473,000 DM to pay off the debts of the film production and became the sole owner of the rights to the film. Owning all film rights, Eckelkamp negotiated a distribution deal with United Artists
United Artists
United Artists Corporation is an American film studio. The original studio of that name was founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks....
, thus outmaneuvering the Filmverlag der Autoren, which was usually distributing Fassbinder's films.
Hoping that The Marriage of Maria Braun might be successful at the 1979 Berlin International Film Festival
Berlin International Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival , also called the Berlinale, is one of the world's leading film festivals and most reputable media events. It is held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in West Berlin in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978...
Eckelkamp started a marketing campaign and decided to release the film theatrically in March 1979. Commissioned by Eckelkamp, the author Gerhard Zwerenz novelized the film. It was published in several weekly installments in the magazine Der Stern
Stern (magazine)
Stern is a weekly news magazine published in Germany. It was founded in 1948 by Henri Nannen, and is currently published by Gruner + Jahr, a subsidiary of Bertelsmann. In the first quarter of 2006, its print run was 1.019 million copies and it reached 7.84 million readers according to...
from March over a period of three months, thus increasing public interest in the film. The official premiere of the film was on 20 February 1979 during the 29th Berlin International Film Festival
29th Berlin International Film Festival
The 29th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from February 20 to March 3, 1979.-Jury:* Julie Christie* Romain Gary* Ingrid Caven* Georg Alexander* Liliana Cavani* Jörn Donner* Paul Bartel* Pál Gábor-Films in competition:...
. The West German theatrical release was on 23 March 1979. At the Berlin International Film Festival Hanna Schygulla won the Silver Bear for Best Actress
Silver Bear for Best Actress
The Silver Bear for Best Actress is the Berlin International Film Festival's award for achievement in performance by an actress.-Awards:- External links :*...
, which did not satisfy Fassbinder who expected to win the Golden Bear
Golden Bear
According to legend, the Golden Bear was a large golden Ursus arctos. Members of the Ursus arctos species can reach masses of . The Grizzly Bear and the Kodiak Bear are North American subspecies of the Brown Bear....
.
Contemporary Reception
German film critics responded very positively to the film and praised the film's combination of artistic values with mass appeal. In the weekly newspaper Die ZeitDie Zeit
Die Zeit is a German nationwide weekly newspaper that is highly respected for its quality journalism.With a circulation of 488,036 and an estimated readership of slightly above 2 million, it is the most widely read German weekly newspaper...
Hans-Christoph Blumenberg called the film "the most accessible (and thus most commercial) and mature work of the director". Karena Niehoff wrote in the daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung
Süddeutsche Zeitung
The Süddeutsche Zeitung , published in Munich, is the largest German national subscription daily newspaper.-Profile:The title literally translates as "South German Newspaper". It is read throughout Germany by 1.1 million readers daily and boasts a relatively high circulation abroad...
that The Marriage of Maria Braun "is a charming and even amusing film, at the same extraordinarily artful, artificial and full of twists and turns".
Hanna Schygulla was praised by many film critics. In the Süddeutsche Zeitung on 23 March 1979 Gottfried Knapp wrote that the director gave her a magnificent opportunity to display her acting talent, and that her character, emotions, charm and energy had an enormous effect. The film and Hanna Schygulla were also praised by foreign film critics. In The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
David Denby
David Denby (film critic)
David Denby is an American journalist, best known as a film critic for The New Yorker magazine.-Background and education:Denby grew up in New York City. He received a B.A...
called Schygulla "an improbable cross between Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich was a German-American actress and singer.Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and characteristically. In the Berlin of the 1920s, she acted on the stage and in silent films...
and Harlow
Jean Harlow
Jean Harlow was an American film actress and sex symbol of the 1930s. Known as the "Blonde Bombshell" and the "Platinum Blonde" , Harlow was ranked as one of the greatest movie stars of all time by the American Film Institute...
". Schygulla, too, was the runner-up for the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress that year, losing to Sally Field
Sally Field
Sally Margaret Field is an American actress, singer, producer, director, and screenwriter. In each decade of her career, she has been known for major roles in American TV/film culture, including: in the 1960s, for Gidget or Sister Bertrille on The Flying Nun ; in the 1970s, for Sybil , Smokey and...
for Norma Rae
Norma Rae
Norma Rae is a 1979 American drama film that tells the story of a factory worker from a small town in North Carolina, who becomes involved in the labor union activities at the textile factory where she works...
.
François Truffaut
François Truffaut
François Roland Truffaut was an influential film critic and filmmaker and one of the founders of the French New Wave. In a film career lasting over a quarter of a century, he remains an icon of the French film industry. He was also a screenwriter, producer, and actor working on over twenty-five...
commented in 1980 in the Cahiers du cinéma
Cahiers du cinéma
Cahiers du Cinéma is an influential French film magazine founded in 1951 by André Bazin, Jacques Doniol-Valcroze and Joseph-Marie Lo Duca. It developed from the earlier magazine Revue du Cinéma involving members of two Paris film clubs — Objectif 49 and...
that with this film Fassbinder "has broken out of the ivory tower of the cinephiles", and that the film is "an original work of epic and poetic qualities" influenced by Godard's
Jean-Luc Godard
Jean-Luc Godard is a French-Swiss film director, screenwriter and film critic. He is often identified with the 1960s French film movement, French Nouvelle Vague, or "New Wave"....
Contempt
Contempt (film)
Contempt is a 1963 film directed by Jean-Luc Godard, based on the Italian novel Il disprezzo by Alberto Moravia. It stars Brigitte Bardot.-Plot:...
, Brecht, Wedekind
Frank Wedekind
Benjamin Franklin Wedekind , usually known as Frank Wedekind, was a German playwright...
and Douglas Sirk
Douglas Sirk
Douglas Sirk was a Danish-German film director best known for his work in Hollywood melodramas in the 1950s.-Life and work:...
. In particular touching is his idea of a man who looks on men and on women with equal fondness. The French film critic Jean de Baroncelli discussed the allegorical qualities of the film in Le Monde
Le Monde
Le Monde is a French daily evening newspaper owned by La Vie-Le Monde Group and edited in Paris. It is one of two French newspapers of record, and has generally been well respected since its first edition under founder Hubert Beuve-Méry on 19 December 1944...
on 19 Januaryy 1980 and wrote that the film presents Maria Braun with a "shining simplicity" as an allegory of Germany, "a character, that wears flashy and expensive clothes, but has lost her soul".
Commercial Success and Aftermath
The Marriage of Maria Braun was not only a critical, but also a commercial success. From its release until October 1979 more than 400,000 tickets were sold in West Germany, and was shown for up to 20 weeks in some film theaters. In West Germany alone the film made more than 4 million DM at the box office. In the same year of its German release the distribution deals for 25 countries were negotiated. In August 1981 the film was the first film by Fassbinder to be shown in East German film theaters. In the first six weeks of its theatrical release in the United States the film made $1.8 million at the box office.The film was not the official German submission to the 51st Academy Awards
51st Academy Awards
The 51st Academy Awards were presented April 9, 1979 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles. The ceremonies were presided over by Johnny Carson....
for Best Foreign Language Film
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
The Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the Academy Awards of Merit, popularly known as the Oscars, handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
. Instead Hans W. Geißendörfer's The Glass Cell
The Glass Cell
The Glass Cell is a 1978 West German film directed by Hans W. Geißendörfer. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.- Cast :* Helmut Griem: Phillip Braun* Brigitte Fossey: Lisa Braun* Dieter Laser: David Reinelt...
was chosen to be the official German submission. Almost one year later the film was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film
Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film
The Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the awards presented at the Golden Globes, an American film awards ceremony.Until 1986, it was known as the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Film, meaning that any non-American film could be honoured...
at the 37th Golden Globe Awards
37th Golden Globe Awards
The 37th Golden Globe Awards, honoring the best in film and television for 1979, were held on 26 January 1980.-Best Actor - Drama: Dustin Hoffman – Kramer vs...
, but this success was overshadowed by the success of Volker Schlöndorff
Volker Schlöndorff
Volker Schlöndorff is a Berlin-based German filmmaker who has worked in Germany, France and the United States...
's The Tin Drum
The Tin Drum (film)
The Tin Drum is a 1979 film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Günter Grass. It was directed and co-written by Volker Schlöndorff...
at the 52nd Academy Awards
52nd Academy Awards
The 52nd Academy Awards were presented April 14, 1980 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles. The ceremonies were presided over by Johnny Carson, who in noting the long duration of the production, joked that President Jimmy Carter was working hard for their "release" from the ceremonies, a...
. The commercial success of The Marriage of Maria Braun strengthened the negotiation position of Fassbinder in his subsequent film projects. He received a financing agreement for one of his favorite projects based on Pitigrilli
Pitigrilli
Pitigrilli, the pseudonym for Dino Segre, was an Italian writer who made his living as a journalist and novelist.-Early life to adulthood:...
's novel Cocaine and was able to increase the budget for Berlin Alexanderplatz. Several German commercial film producers expressed an interest in making films with Fassbinder. The seasoned film producer Luggi Waldleitner would produce the Fassbinder film Lili Marleen
Lili Marleen (film)
Lili Marleen is a 1981 German drama film directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder and starring Hanna Schygulla.The screenplay was produced using the novel Der Himmel hat viele Farben by Lale Andersen...
with Hanna Schygulla in the main role. Horst Wendlandt
Horst Wendlandt
Horst Wendlandt was a German film producer. He produced 99 films between 1956 and 2002.He was born and died in Berlin, Germany.-Selected filmography:* Pappa ante Portas * L'as des as * Lola...
would produce the two other films in the BRD Trilogy, Lola and Veronika Voss. His success also allowed him to realize his last project, Querelle
Querelle
Querelle, a 1982 film directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, adapted from French author Jean Genet's 1947 novel Querelle de Brest. It marked Fassbinder's final film as a writer/director; it was posthumously released just months after the director died of a drug overdose in June 1982.-Plot:The plot...
which was co-financed by Gaumont
Gaumont Film Company
Gaumont Film Company is a French film production company founded in 1895 by the engineer-turned-inventor, Léon Gaumont . Gaumont is the oldest continously operating film company in the world....
.
As Fengler had oversold the rights to the film. the profit share of Fassbinder was an open question. Eckelkamp saw himself as the sole owner of all rights, but sent a check in the amount of 70,000 DM to Fassbinder in 1982 to appease the director. After Fassbinder's death his mother and heiress Liselotte Eder revived the claims, but was rejected by Eckelkamp. In the course of legal proceedings Eckelkamp was ordered in 1986 to disclose the film's finances to the newly founded Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation. Eckelkamp's Trio Film disclosed a budget of almost 2 million DM, additional marketing costs of 1 million DM and a net profit of 1 million DM. When Trio-Film was ordered to pay to Fassbinder's heirs 290,000 DM Eckelkamp refused. At the request of the Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation Trio Film had to declare bankruptcy in 1988. In the course of the continuing legal proceedings, the Oberlandesgericht
Oberlandesgericht
The Oberlandesgericht is one of the 'ordinary courts' in Germany...
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
certified in 1990 that Fassbinder was not a co-producer of the film. The ruling was upheld by the Federal Court of Justice
Federal Court of Justice of Germany
The Federal Court of Justice of Germany in Karlsruhe is the highest court in the system of ordinary jurisdiction in Germany. It is the supreme court in all matters of criminal and private law...
, but also ruled that the Fassbinder heirs were entitled to a share of the film's profits. Today all film rights are owned by the Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation.
External links
- The Marriage of Maria Braun at Filmportal.de
- The Marriage of Maria Braun at the Fassbinder Foundation