Popularity: 1 (history)
Director: | Rainer Werner Fassbinder |
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Writer: | Peter Märthesheimer, Pea Fröhlich |
Staring: |
Maria marries a young soldier in the last days of World War II, only for him to go missing in the war. She must rely on her beauty and ambition to navigate the difficult post-war years alone. | |
Release Date: | Mar 23, 1979 |
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Director: | Rainer Werner Fassbinder |
Writer: | Peter Märthesheimer, Pea Fröhlich |
Genres: | Drama |
Keywords | world war ii, empowerment, black market, strong woman, penitentiary, economic miracle, marriage, 1940s, new german cinema |
Production Companies | WDR, Albatros Filmproduktion, Trio Films, Filmverlag der Autoren, Fengler Films, Tango Film |
Box Office |
Revenue: $0
Budget: $0 |
Updates |
Updated: May 27, 2025 Entered: May 27, 2025 |
Name | Character |
---|---|
Hanna Schygulla | Maria Braun |
Klaus Löwitsch | Hermann Braun |
Ivan Desny | Karl Oswald |
George Eagles | Bill |
Gisela Uhlen | Mother |
Elisabeth Trissenaar | Betti Klenze |
Gottfried John | Willi Klenze |
Hark Bohm | Senkenberg |
Günter Lamprecht | Hans Wetzel |
Lilo Pempeit | Frau Ehmke |
Michael Ballhaus | Counsel |
Rainer Werner Fassbinder | Peddler |
Günther Kaufmann | American on Train |
Claus Holm | Doctor |
Anton Schiersner | Grandpa Berger |
Sonja Neudorfer | Red Cross Nurse |
Volker Spengler | Train Conductor |
Isolde Barth | Vevi |
Bruce Low | American at Conference |
Karl-Heinz von Hassel | Prosecuting Counsel |
Kristine De Loup | Notary |
Hannes Kaetner | Justice of the Peace |
Barbara Baum | (as Baum) |
Peter Berling | Bronski (as Berling) |
Rolf Bührmann | Warden |
Martin Häussler | Reporter |
Horst-Dieter Klock | Gentleman with Car |
Georg Kuhn | |
Norbert Scherer | Warden |
Andreas Willim | |
Arthur Glogau | Warden (uncredited) |
Name | Job |
---|---|
Barbara Baum | Costume Design |
Rainer Werner Fassbinder | Editor, Director, Idea |
Anni Nöbauer | Makeup Artist |
Arno Mathes | Set Decoration |
Andreas Willim | Set Decoration |
Peter Märthesheimer | Screenplay |
Claus Kottmann | Props, Production Design |
Peer Raben | Original Music Composer |
Juliane Lorenz | Editor |
Norbert Scherer | Production Design |
Inge Proeller | Costume Design |
Hans-Peter Sandmeier | Set Decoration |
Michael Ballhaus | Director of Photography |
Milan Bor | Sound Designer |
Georg Kuhn | Costume Design |
Pea Fröhlich | Screenplay |
Jim Willis | Sound Designer |
Robert Busch | Production Assistant |
Helga Beyer | Script Supervisor |
Rolf Bührmann | Assistant Director |
Raimund Wirner | Gaffer |
Hans-Juergen Hoepflinger | Gaffer |
Dieter Dubine | Location Manager |
Jochen Losse | Production Coordinator |
Harry Baer | Production Manager |
Susi Reichel | Assistant Costume Designer |
Helga Ballhaus | Production Design |
Martin Häussler | Production Manager |
Ekkehard Heinrich | Gaffer |
Georg Borgel | Props |
Christiane Kolenc | Assistant Editor |
Thomas Wommer | Unit Manager |
Christine Fall | Production Secretary |
Karl Willim | Driver |
Horst Knechtel | Assistant Camera |
John Salter | Sound Assistant |
Name | Title |
---|---|
Hanns Eckelkamp | Producer |
Volker Canaris | Producer |
Wolf-Dietrich Brücker | Producer |
Michael Fengler | Producer |
Organization | Category | Person | |
---|---|---|---|
Academy Awards | Best Actor | Günter Pfitzmann | Nominated |
Cannes Film Festival | Best Supporting Actress | Hildegard Knef | Nominated |
Popularity History
Year | Month | Avg | Max | Min |
---|---|---|---|---|
2024 | 4 | 14 | 21 | 10 |
2024 | 5 | 15 | 27 | 10 |
2024 | 6 | 17 | 27 | 9 |
2024 | 7 | 15 | 29 | 8 |
2024 | 8 | 13 | 21 | 9 |
2024 | 9 | 10 | 17 | 7 |
2024 | 10 | 11 | 19 | 6 |
2024 | 11 | 13 | 31 | 6 |
2024 | 12 | 10 | 15 | 6 |
2025 | 1 | 10 | 18 | 6 |
2025 | 2 | 9 | 12 | 3 |
2025 | 3 | 5 | 15 | 1 |
2025 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
2025 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
2025 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
2025 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
2025 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
2025 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
2025 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Trending Position
Year | Month | High | Avg |
---|---|---|---|
2025 | 6 | 858 | 858 |
Year | Month | High | Avg |
---|---|---|---|
2025 | 5 | 170 | 479 |
With the defeat of the Nazis looming large, "Maria" (Hanna Schygulla) marries her sweet-heart "Hermann" (Klaus Löwitch) before he is promptly sent off to the front and she loses all trace of him. With her nation now in ruins, she has no way of surviving and so has to adapt by using her wits, guile a ... nd even her body to keep alive. Fortunately, she alights on an American soldier who enables her to keep her head above water but she spurns anything more permanent as, even when told of his death, she refuses to abandon hope that "Hermann" will return. The thrust of this story continues for many a year as she begins to hone her skills of successfully combining satisfaction for others as well as herself with an increasing improvement in her circumstances. Sooner or later, though, one of these men will prove less gullible and/or lovestruck and her secret might just bring her new life tumbling down before she manages to reunite with an husband whom she's not even sure is still alive! This is a great looking drama that takes us on quite an emotionally turbulent trip into the debris of a city and a culture that saw "Maria" - like so many other hausfrau, left without any means of support as the Allies took control and struggled to deal with their own significant logistic problems. Schygulla delivers powerfully as a woman who must think on her feet to put bread on the table and a roof (or at least part of one) over her head. She's not by nature ruthless but when needs must she realises that she can rely on nobody but herself. Fassbender cleverly uses the screenplay and the bombed-out city-scape to create characters that do illicit a degree of counterintuitive sympathy. In may ways, she is a victim but will she accept that status? Her society gradually becomes akin to the phoenix and the ashes, and her determination not to be left behind is emotively captured over the two hours we spend with her and some equally ill-equipped destitute German people gradually becoming just ein bischen optimistic. It doesn't address the post-war politics of directly, but there are a few more oblique comments to add a further elements of realism to this quite poignantly written drama that marries disaster, a little humour and a great deal of fortitude.