About

The Marriage of Maria Braun was the first instalment of Fassbinder's BRD trilogy, with his later films Lola and Veronika Voss completing the loose triptych exploring the lives of three different women in Germany after World War II. Maria Braun (Hanna Schygulla) is a war bride, abandoned just one night after her wedding as her new husband Hermann (Klaus Löwitsch) returns to battle. With defiant persistence, Maria begins her slow climb out of the ruins, mirroring Germany's own post-war recovery. As she awaits the return of her love, Maria uses her wits and wiles to become a self-made businesswoman. That she finds only emptiness despite her success is no doubt a savage indictment of the "economic miracle" Germany experienced in the 1950s. The production of The Marriage of Maria Braun was one of Fassbinder's most unhappy, culminating in a split with his long-time collaborator Michael Fengler, and co-producer of the film. Fassbinder was on a self-destructive bent: he demanded his crew supply him with cocaine during shooting, causing the production to go over-budget. Despite this, The Marriage of Maria Braun went on to become not only Fassbinder's most commercially successful film but also the film that would bring him the critical acclaim he had longed for.

M | Mature themes and coarse language, Sexual references, drug use and nudity