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Given that the fearless satire of Mother Küsters Goes to Heaven leaves no one unscathed, it is not so surprising that its premiere was the target of bomb threats. Here everyone is an opportunist, and worthy of criticism. Fassbinder's pitch-black comedy takes its title and inspiration in part from the 1929 leftist film Mother Krause's Journey to Happiness. But whereas Mother Krause's journey is one that ends in suicide, Emma Küsters' begins with it: when her husband learns of impending layoffs at his factory job, in a fit of madness he kills his boss and then himself. The newly widowed Küsters (Brigitte Mira) suddenly finds herself the centre of a media frenzy, as people come out of the woodwork looking to exploit her tragedy for their own personal gain. Two very disparate ways in which Mother Küsters finally reaches heaven were shot: the almost upbeat American ending and the original European one, which offers a much bleaker though perhaps more cohesive resolution.

MA15+ | Strong violence, drug references, coarse language and nudity

MA15+