About

In this surprisingly whimsical comedy, two working-class Munich slackers (Michael König and Günther Kaufmann) discover an old map of the Rio das Mortes supposedly revealing the location of buried treasure, sparking an ambition to escape the mundane oppression of their daily lives. Against the pleas of Michael's girlfriend Hanna (Hanna Schygulla), the pair hatch an unlikely plan to travel to South America in search of the treasure. They try in vain to finance their expedition by scrimping, scheming and even selling their possessions until a benefactress offers to bankroll the trip. Though the fates of Michael and Günther are left ambiguous, it is worth noting that they are among the very few Fassbinder characters who manage to wrestle free of their old lives (perhaps in part because the story is credited to fellow New German Cinema director Volker Schlöndorff), making Rio das Mortes perhaps one of Fassbinder's most optimistic films.

Ages 15+