The Third Generation
Encyclopedia
The Third Generation is a 1979
West German film, a black comedy about terrorism, written, directed and cinematographed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder
. The plot follows an ineffectual cell of underground terrorist who plan to kidnap an industrialist.
. Nevertheless Lurz has hatched a secret plan to boost sales. Meanwhile Susanne, Lurz’s secretary, receives a phone call with the message: The world as will as idea. This is a code phrase amongst a secret group of thirty something middle class leftists and would be terrorist to which she belongs. The phrase has been taken from the central work of the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer
"The World as Will and Representation”. With these words, Susanne sets an ambiguous covert plot into motion, alerting the members of the terrorist cell of an upcoming meeting. They are: Ringleader August Brem; Susanne's composer husband Edgar; feminist history professor Hilde Krieger: Petra Vielhabor, a housewife who is constantly arguing with her banker husband Hans; and Rudolf Mann, a clerk in a record store.
P.J. Lurz is informed by Gerhard Gast, the inspector general of the police that he is being watched and is under police protection. Gast, has also arrived to pick up Susanne, her daughter in law. In route to their home, Susanne and Gerhard stop at a hotel room and have sex. They have been carrying an affair with sado-masochistic undertones.
The Gast family has dinner together: Gerhardt, Susan, her husband Edgar, the caustic grandfather, the delusional pianist grandmother and the young couple’s small son. While having dinner Grandpa Gast tells Edgar that every generation needs a war.
The terrorist gather at Rudolf’s large apartment, but August is annoyed by the presence of Rudolf’s roommate Ilse Hoffman, a drug addict. August sees her as a threat to their secret activities. Bored and with not much to do the group spend their time playing monopoly. They eagerly wait the arrival of a new contact. His name is Paul and he arrives from training camps in Africa having more experience. Paul is assigned to live with Hilde. He rapes her, however by the following day they have become a couple.
August Brem, the leader among the terrorist, is in fact a double agent. He is secretly in contact with Lurz, who wants to boost sales of his security computers by financing the terrorist group. Rudolf’s apartment serves as the terrorist headquarters and meeting point. Claiming domestic abuse, Petra leaves her husband and decides to stay with Rudolf. The group of terrorist is completed with the arrival of two friends of Ilse. One is her former boyfriend, Franz Walsh, a beefy black German who is an explosives expert recently discharged of the military. The other is his friend Bernhard von Stein, an aristocrat whose fondness for the works of Bakunin makes him the object of jokes. Franz fails to find a job but reconnects with his drug addict girlfriend Ilse.
Times are tense and get even worse when Paul is gunned down by the authorities at a restaurant. Edgar, witnesses his death and sees his father, Officer Gast, at the scene. Paul’s death scares the members of his gang. In order to finance their activities Petra and some of the other terrorists robbed the very bank in which Petra’s husband works. While they are escaping Petra shoots and kills her husband. They franticly change their looks and names and flee from their homes. August gives out a paper squares to the group. Some have a mark and some don’t. Petra, Rudolf and Hilde got the marks and had to break into an office at night in order to steal the new identities. Rudolf is so scared that he pees in his pants and the others laugh at him. The joke is short live because Franz finds Ilse dead of a drug overdose.
Bernhard is interrogated by Officer Gast as to their where about. Bernhard genuinely does not know but gets curious and follows August undetected. He sees Lurtz give money to August in order to finance the terrorist activities. After Pauls’ death, the terrorist believe that there is a traitor among them. August makes the others think that it was Franz. August sets up Franz by telling him where Ilse is buried. He then calls the authorities and gets him killed. August also does the same to Petra when she is instructed to place a bomb and gets intercepted and killed by the police. Bernhard is caught by Officer Gast at the cemetery when he tried to warn Franz that it was a set up and not to go to Ilse’s grave. Bernhard tells Officer Gast of what he saw at the Chinese restaurant and after argument Bernhard falls down a long flight of stairs and is killed. Taking advantage that it is carnival season, the remaining terrorist wearing costumes Kidnapped PJ Lurtz. He is video taped in a basement. He still believes that all is part of his secret plan and smiles to the camera.
. It was produced by Fassbinder's production company Tango Films for an estimated amount of 800.00 DEM. It was shot in Berlin from November 1978 to January 22, 1979 in the winter of 1978 -1979, which is when the action takes place.
The large cast is formed by actors from Fassbinder's regular troupe: Hanna Schygulla
, Margit Carstensen
, Volker Spengler
, Harry Baer
and Günther Kaufmann
among others. It also includes two international stars Eddie Constantine
, who had worked with Fassbinder earlier in the director's career and Bulle Ogier
, who did not speak German. Her dialogue was translated to her native french by Juliane Lorenz
, who worked as assistant director and editor having also a cameo role as a job counselor. Some of the actors work also behind the scenes: Harry Baer was executive producer, Raúl Gimenez was production designer, Volker Spengler was the art director.
. It competed in the Un Certain Regard
section . American and French critics praised the film as the festival's most exciting. The French daily Le Figaro called it: "An effective, cinematic exercise in style and one of the most frightening political films". The film was released in West German in September 1979. It was received without enthusiasm. Some critics praise the film's mordant political humor, but mostly received negative reviews. A critic called it as crazy as teaming Jerry Lewis
with Robert Bresson
. The political theme of the film arouse controversy. At a screening in Hamburg
, the projectionist was beaten unconscious, while in Frankfurt
an incensed mob threw acid at the screen. There were also death threats. However The Third Generation it is now considered by film critics to be one of Fassbinder's best films. At the Rotten Tomatoes
website it has a 83% 'fresh' rating.
1979 in film
The year 1979 in film involved some significant events.- Major events :* March 5 - Production begins on Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.* May 25 - Alien, a landmark of the science fiction genre, is released....
West German film, a black comedy about terrorism, written, directed and cinematographed 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...
. The plot follows an ineffectual cell of underground terrorist who plan to kidnap an industrialist.
Plot
P.J. Lurz, an industrialist with an office in a Berlin’s high-rise, informs his American headquarters that the company has difficulty selling its security-related computer systems to the West Germany government in BonnBonn
Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....
. Nevertheless Lurz has hatched a secret plan to boost sales. Meanwhile Susanne, Lurz’s secretary, receives a phone call with the message: The world as will as idea. This is a code phrase amongst a secret group of thirty something middle class leftists and would be terrorist to which she belongs. The phrase has been taken from the central work of the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer
Arthur Schopenhauer
Arthur Schopenhauer was a German philosopher known for his pessimism and philosophical clarity. At age 25, he published his doctoral dissertation, On the Fourfold Root of the Principle of Sufficient Reason, which examined the four separate manifestations of reason in the phenomenal...
"The World as Will and Representation”. With these words, Susanne sets an ambiguous covert plot into motion, alerting the members of the terrorist cell of an upcoming meeting. They are: Ringleader August Brem; Susanne's composer husband Edgar; feminist history professor Hilde Krieger: Petra Vielhabor, a housewife who is constantly arguing with her banker husband Hans; and Rudolf Mann, a clerk in a record store.
P.J. Lurz is informed by Gerhard Gast, the inspector general of the police that he is being watched and is under police protection. Gast, has also arrived to pick up Susanne, her daughter in law. In route to their home, Susanne and Gerhard stop at a hotel room and have sex. They have been carrying an affair with sado-masochistic undertones.
The Gast family has dinner together: Gerhardt, Susan, her husband Edgar, the caustic grandfather, the delusional pianist grandmother and the young couple’s small son. While having dinner Grandpa Gast tells Edgar that every generation needs a war.
The terrorist gather at Rudolf’s large apartment, but August is annoyed by the presence of Rudolf’s roommate Ilse Hoffman, a drug addict. August sees her as a threat to their secret activities. Bored and with not much to do the group spend their time playing monopoly. They eagerly wait the arrival of a new contact. His name is Paul and he arrives from training camps in Africa having more experience. Paul is assigned to live with Hilde. He rapes her, however by the following day they have become a couple.
August Brem, the leader among the terrorist, is in fact a double agent. He is secretly in contact with Lurz, who wants to boost sales of his security computers by financing the terrorist group. Rudolf’s apartment serves as the terrorist headquarters and meeting point. Claiming domestic abuse, Petra leaves her husband and decides to stay with Rudolf. The group of terrorist is completed with the arrival of two friends of Ilse. One is her former boyfriend, Franz Walsh, a beefy black German who is an explosives expert recently discharged of the military. The other is his friend Bernhard von Stein, an aristocrat whose fondness for the works of Bakunin makes him the object of jokes. Franz fails to find a job but reconnects with his drug addict girlfriend Ilse.
Times are tense and get even worse when Paul is gunned down by the authorities at a restaurant. Edgar, witnesses his death and sees his father, Officer Gast, at the scene. Paul’s death scares the members of his gang. In order to finance their activities Petra and some of the other terrorists robbed the very bank in which Petra’s husband works. While they are escaping Petra shoots and kills her husband. They franticly change their looks and names and flee from their homes. August gives out a paper squares to the group. Some have a mark and some don’t. Petra, Rudolf and Hilde got the marks and had to break into an office at night in order to steal the new identities. Rudolf is so scared that he pees in his pants and the others laugh at him. The joke is short live because Franz finds Ilse dead of a drug overdose.
Bernhard is interrogated by Officer Gast as to their where about. Bernhard genuinely does not know but gets curious and follows August undetected. He sees Lurtz give money to August in order to finance the terrorist activities. After Pauls’ death, the terrorist believe that there is a traitor among them. August makes the others think that it was Franz. August sets up Franz by telling him where Ilse is buried. He then calls the authorities and gets him killed. August also does the same to Petra when she is instructed to place a bomb and gets intercepted and killed by the police. Bernhard is caught by Officer Gast at the cemetery when he tried to warn Franz that it was a set up and not to go to Ilse’s grave. Bernhard tells Officer Gast of what he saw at the Chinese restaurant and after argument Bernhard falls down a long flight of stairs and is killed. Taking advantage that it is carnival season, the remaining terrorist wearing costumes Kidnapped PJ Lurtz. He is video taped in a basement. He still believes that all is part of his secret plan and smiles to the camera.
Cast
- Eddie ConstantineEddie ConstantineEddie Constantine was an American-born French actor and singer who spent his career working in Europe....
- P. J. Lurz - Hanna SchygullaHanna SchygullaHanna 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,...
- Susanne Gast - Margit CarstensenMargit CarstensenMargit Carstensen is a German theatre and film actress, best known outside Germany for roles in the works of film director Rainer Werner Fassbinder.-Theater career:...
- Petra Vielhaber - Bulle OgierBulle OgierBulle Ogier is a French actress.Ogier's first appearance on screen was in Voilà l'Ordre, a short film directed by Jacques Baratier with a number of the then-emerging young singers of the 1960s in France, including Boris Vian, Claude Nougaro, etc.She worked with Jacques Rivette Bulle Ogier (born...
- Hilde Krieger - Volker SpenglerVolker SpenglerVolker Spengler is a German actor who was one of Rainer Werner Fassbinder's key collaborators.His most noted role with Fassbinder was as the transsexual Erwin/Elvira of the film In a Year of 13 Moons ....
- August - Raúl GimenezRaúl GiménezRaúl 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...
- Paul - Hark BohmHark BohmHark 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...
- Gerhard Gast - Günther KaufmannGünther KaufmannGünther 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...
- Franz Walsch - Vitus Zeplichal - Bernhard von Stein
- Udo KierUdo KierUdo Kier is a German actor, known primarily for his work in horror and exploitation movies.-Early life:...
- Edgar Gast - Harry BaerHarry BaerHarry Baer is a German actor, producer and author. Notable for his work with Rainer Werner Fassbinder.-Life:...
- Rudolf Mann - Y Sa Lo - Ilse Hoffmann
- Jürgen Draeger - Hans Vielhaber
- Claus HolmClaus HolmClaus Holm was a German film actor. He appeared in 50 films between 1943 and 1979.He was born in Bochum, Germany and died in Berlin, Germany.-Selected filmography:* Winter in the Woods...
- Father Gast - Lilo Pempeit - Mother Gast
Production
The Third Generation was made right after Fassbinder achieved wide international critical and commercial success with 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...
. It was produced by Fassbinder's production company Tango Films for an estimated amount of 800.00 DEM. It was shot in Berlin from November 1978 to January 22, 1979 in the winter of 1978 -1979, which is when the action takes place.
The large cast is formed by actors from Fassbinder's regular troupe: 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,...
, Margit Carstensen
Margit Carstensen
Margit Carstensen is a German theatre and film actress, best known outside Germany for roles in the works of film director Rainer Werner Fassbinder.-Theater career:...
, Volker Spengler
Volker Spengler
Volker Spengler is a German actor who was one of Rainer Werner Fassbinder's key collaborators.His most noted role with Fassbinder was as the transsexual Erwin/Elvira of the film In a Year of 13 Moons ....
, Harry Baer
Harry Baer
Harry Baer is a German actor, producer and author. Notable for his work with Rainer Werner Fassbinder.-Life:...
and 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...
among others. It also includes two international stars Eddie Constantine
Eddie Constantine
Eddie Constantine was an American-born French actor and singer who spent his career working in Europe....
, who had worked with Fassbinder earlier in the director's career and Bulle Ogier
Bulle Ogier
Bulle Ogier is a French actress.Ogier's first appearance on screen was in Voilà l'Ordre, a short film directed by Jacques Baratier with a number of the then-emerging young singers of the 1960s in France, including Boris Vian, Claude Nougaro, etc.She worked with Jacques Rivette Bulle Ogier (born...
, who did not speak German. Her dialogue was translated to her native french by Juliane Lorenz
Juliane 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...
, who worked as assistant director and editor having also a cameo role as a job counselor. Some of the actors work also behind the scenes: Harry Baer was executive producer, Raúl Gimenez was production designer, Volker Spengler was the art director.
Reception
The Third Generation premiered on 13 May 1979 at the Cannes Film FestivalCannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
. It competed in the Un Certain Regard
Un Certain Regard
Un Certain Regard is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's Official Selection. It is run at the Salle Debussy, parallel to the competition for the Palme d'Or.This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob...
section . American and French critics praised the film as the festival's most exciting. The French daily Le Figaro called it: "An effective, cinematic exercise in style and one of the most frightening political films". The film was released in West German in September 1979. It was received without enthusiasm. Some critics praise the film's mordant political humor, but mostly received negative reviews. A critic called it as crazy as teaming Jerry Lewis
Jerry Lewis
Jerry Lewis is an American comedian, actor, singer, film producer, screenwriter and film director. He is best known for his slapstick humor in film, television, stage and radio. He was originally paired up with Dean Martin in 1946, forming the famed comedy team of Martin and Lewis...
with Robert Bresson
Robert Bresson
-Life and career:Bresson was born at Bromont-Lamothe, Puy-de-Dôme, the son of Marie-Élisabeth and Léon Bresson. Little is known of his early life and the year of his birth, 1901 or 1907, varies depending on the source. He was educated at Lycée Lakanal in Sceaux, Hauts-de-Seine, close to Paris, and...
. The political theme of the film arouse controversy. At a screening in Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, the projectionist was beaten unconscious, while in Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
an incensed mob threw acid at the screen. There were also death threats. However The Third Generation it is now considered by film critics to be one of Fassbinder's best films. At the Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
website it has a 83% 'fresh' rating.