Love is Colder Than Death (1969) Liebe ist kälter als der Tod (original title)

Director:

Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Writer:

Rainer Werner Fassbinder (writer)

Release Date:

16 January 1970 (West Germany)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Romance

Tagline:

Eine knallharte Geschichte vom Leben, vom Lieben und vom Sterben

Plot:

Unusual gangster story, in which a small-time pimp Franz, who is torn between his mistress and Bruno...

Plot Keywords:

Gangster | Train | Coolness | Ruthlessness | Munich Germany

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Ulli Lommel	...	Bruno
Hanna Schygulla	...	Johanna
Katrin Schaake	...	Dame im Zug
Liz Soellner	...	Zeitungsverkäuferin
Gisela Otto	...	1. Prostituierte
Ursula Strätz	...	Fette Prostituierte
Monika Nüchtern	...	Kellnerin beim Türken (as Monika Stadler)
Hans Hirschmüller	...	Peter
Les Olvides	...	Georges
Peer Raben	...	Jürgen (as Wil Rabenbauer)
Howard Gaines	...	Raoul
Peter Moland	...	Leiter des Syndikatsverhörs
Kurt Raab	...	Aufsichtsperson im Kaufhaus
Peter Berling	...	Illegaler Waffenhändler
Anastassios Karalas	...	Türke
Rudolf Waldemar Brem	...	Motorradpolizist
Yaak Karsunke	...	Kommissar
Hannes Gromball	...	Kunde bei Joanna
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ingrid Caven	...	2. Prostituierte (uncredited)
Rainer Werner Fassbinder	...	Franz (uncredited)
Wolfgang Gmoch	...	Polizist (uncredited)
Irm Hermann	...	Sonnenbrillenverkäuferin (uncredited)
Thomas Hill	...	Wärter (uncredited)
Gottfried Hüngsberg	...	Polizist (uncredited)
Franz Maron	...	Polizist (uncredited)

Directed by
Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Rainer Werner Fassbinder		writer

Produced by
Irm Hermann	....	assistant producer
Peer Raben	....	producer
Thomas Schamoni	....	producer

Original Music by
Holger Münzer
Peer Raben

Cinematography by
Dietrich Lohmann

Film Editing by
Rainer Werner Fassbinder		(as Franz Walsch)

Production Design by
Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Ulli Lommel

Production Management
Christian Hohoff	....	unit production manager
Peer Raben	....	unit production manager (as Wil Rabenbauer)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Martin Müller	....	assistant director
Katrin Schaake	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Gottfried Hüngsberg	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
Herbert Paetzold	....	assistant camera
Peter Wagner	....	lighting technician

Editorial Department
Katrin Schaake	....	assistant editor

Other crew
Christian Hohoff	....	production coordinator
Katrin Schaake	....	script supervisor

Thanks
Claude Chabrol	....	dedicatee
Eric Rohmer	....	dedicatee
Jean-Marie Straub	....	dedicatee
Gian Maria Volonté	....	dedicatee

Production Companies

• Antiteater-X-Film

Distributors

• e-m-s the DVD-Company (2002) (Germany) (DVD) (special edition)
• Argos Films (1993) (France) (theatrical)
• Kinokuniya (2007) (Japan) (DVD)
• Raro Video (2005) (Italy) (DVD) (boxed set)

Also Known As:

"Liebe ist kälter als der Tod" - West Germany (original title)

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

West Germany

Language:

German

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:16 | Singapore:R(A) | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Munich, Bavaria, Germany

Company:

Antiteater-X-Film

Trivia:

This film is dedicated to three French film directors, Claude Chabrol, Eric Rohmer, and Jean-Marie Straub, as well as Linio and Cuncho, who were two characters from Damiano Damiani's A Bullet for the General (1966).

Movie Connections:

Featured in Fassbinder in Hollywood (2002)

Soundtrack:

Der Rosenkavalier

Fassbinder's first movie - an homage to Film Noir and the French Nouvelle Vague

A man (Fassbinder himself) is sitting on an armchair, reading the newspaper. Another man walks into frame asks Franz (Fassbinder's character's name) for a cigarette and when he's told 'no!' he takes the newspaper and drops it down on the floor. Franz gets up and beats up the guy. The plot continues: Franz is ordered into this room to work for a criminal syndicate but he wants to be his only chief himself. Franz meets Bruno, a man who works for the syndicate, and they become very good friends. Some days later they meet again and we recognize that Franz is a pimp. Bruno falls in love with Franz' girlfriend (played by Hanna Schygulla) and together they start to rob banks. It is the last coup when Hanna Schygulla calls the police. Bruno is shooten down by some policemen and Fassbinder and Schygulla flee in their car.

The plot is almost as short as Godard's 'Breathless' and I think that that was what Fassbinder really wants to show with this film. When you cinema after seeing this film you don't remember a plot but very much more a feeling - a feeling of social isolation of the main characters, a feeling of loneliness.

In my opinion this is one of the best Fassbinder movies, even if it's not appraised as that good by most of the critics.