Research Catalog

Title

Berlin Alexanderplatz [videorecording] / A co-production of WDF (German Television) and RAI (Italian Television) ; produced by Peter Martesheimer ; written and directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder.

Publication

New York, NY : MGM/UA, 1983.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Döblin, Alfred, 1878-1957.
• Schygulla, Hanna, 1943-
• Hoffman, Reinhold, 1831-
• Lamprecht, Günter, 1930-2022.
• Fassbinder, Rainer Werner, 1945-1982.
• Radiotelevisione italiana
• Westdeutscher Rundfunk

Description

8 videocassettes (120 min. each) : sd. col.; 1/2 in.

Summary

This made-for-television epic is set in Berlin during the depression of 1928. Fragments of the city's "consciousness"--songs, slogans, news reports and Biblical passages--intertwine with the story of two men whose "bit of love on this earth gets smashed." The drama, centering on the latent attraction between Franz Biberkopf (Gunter Lemprecht) and Reinhold Hoffman (Gottfried John) is marked by intense emotional conflict, violence, despair and problematical relationships with women. This depiction of a decadent Berlin on the "verge of apocalypse" was considered by Fassbinder to be his masterwork.

Subjects

• Berlin (Germany) > History > 1918-1945 > Drama
• Feature films > Germany
• Interpersonal attractions > Drama

Note

• Based on the novel by Alfred Döblin.

Credits (note)

• Camera, Xaver Schwarzenberger ; music, Peer Raben.

Performer (note)

• Gunter Lamprecht, Hanna Schygulla, Barbara Sukowa ... [et al.]

System Details (note)

• VHS.

Language (note)

• In German with English subtitles.

Contents

episode 1. Punishment begins -- episode 2-3. How is one to live if one doesn't want to die. A Hammer blow on the head can injure the soul -- episode 4-5. A Handful of people in the depths of silence. A Reaper with the power of our Lord -- episode 6-7. A Love always costs a lot. Remember-an oath can be amputated -- episode 8-9. Sun warms the skin, which it sometimes burns. Of the eternities between the many and the few -- episode 10-11. Loneliness makes cracks of madness in walls, too. Knowledge is power, and early to bed, early to rise -- episode 12-13. Serpent in the soul of the serpent. External and the internal episode 14. Epilogue: My dream of Franz Biberkopf's dream -- On the death of a child and the birth of a useful man.

Call Number

10

OCLC

1323206392

Title

Berlin Alexanderplatz [videorecording] / A co-production of WDF (German Television) and RAI (Italian Television) ; produced by Peter Martesheimer ; written and directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder.

Imprint

New York, NY : MGM/UA, 1983.

System Details

VHS.

Credits

Camera, Xaver Schwarzenberger ; music, Peer Raben.

Cast

Gunter Lamprecht, Hanna Schygulla, Barbara Sukowa ... [et al.]

Language

In German with English subtitles.

Added Author

Döblin, Alfred, 1878-1957. Berlin Alexanderplatz.

Schygulla, Hanna, 1943-

Hoffman, Reinhold, 1831-

Lamprecht, Günter, 1930-2022.

Fassbinder, Rainer Werner, 1945-1982. Director

Fassbinder, Rainer Werner, 1945-1982. Screenwriter

Radiotelevisione italiana.

Westdeutscher Rundfunk.

Research Call Number

VTH 10 B