Warum läuft Herr R. Amok? (1970)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Directors:

Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Michael Fengler

Writers:

Rainer Werner Fassbinder (writer)
Michael Fengler (writer)

Release Date:

17 November 1977 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

With slicked-down hair and three-piece suits, dependable Herr Raab is a technical draftsman. He gets...

Plot Keywords:

Husband Wife Relationship | Mother Son Relationship | Family Relationships | Giving A Toast | Marriage

Awards:

3 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Lilith Ungerer	...	Frau R.
Kurt Raab	...	Herr R.
Lilo Pempeit	...	Kollegin im Büro
Franz Maron	...	Chef
Harry Baer	...	Kollege im Büro
Peter Moland	...	Kollege im Büro
Hanna Schygulla	...	Schulfreundin
Ingrid Caven	...	Nachbarin
Irm Hermann	...	Nachbarin
Doris Mattes	...	Nachbarin
Hannes Gromball	...	Nachbar
Vinzenz Sterr	...	Opa Raab (as Herr Sterr)
Maria Sterr	...	Oma Raab (as Frau Sterr)
Peer Raben	...	Schulfreund
Eva Pampuch	...	Schallplattenverkäuferin

Also Known As:

Why Does Herr R. Run Amok? (International: English title)

Runtime:

88 min | Germany:90 min (Festivalfassung)

Country:

West Germany

Language:

German

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-15 | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Munich, Bavaria, Germany

Company:

Antiteater-Produktion

Trivia:

In 2003 on a interview for Village Voice Hanna Schygulla claimed that this film was completely done by co-director Michael Fengler and Rainer Werner Fassbinder had nothing to do with the actual film. She also claimed that film was almost completely improvised which wasn't Fassbinder's way to make movies. Fassbinder still is credited as director and writer on the actual film and on many official sources, including Fassbinder Foundation's website.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When Herr R. leaves the doctor the camera team can be seen in the mirror on the wall.

Movie Connections:

References Alma Mater (1969) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Stand by Me

Why Does Fassbinder Run Amok?

Wild and winsome yet tragic tale of a man who falls apart before our very eyes. Whats so exciting about this film is not the plot or the climax, which is given away in the title, but the sheer breathless spontaneity of the unfolding drama/trauma, presented in breezy interchanges between characters and told in an intimate verite style that looks disarmingly nontheatrical. We are like a fly on the wall making a documentary about a loser's last days. It is thus alternately exciting, maddening, sad and boring, just as those moments in his life actually would be. The only thing about the film that didn't really click was Herr R.'s final act(s) of violence. They seem at first glance sort of unsolicited, melodramatic, over-reactive, out of context. But then, the whole point of "running amok," as the Eskimos tell it, is that after six months of indoor living with no sunlight, the mere tedium and monotony of cohabitation becomes too much to bear. Thus, it isn't trauma after trauma, or some big nasty blowout that causes the final snap; it's the soul-crushing redundancy of the countless minuscule agitations and frustrations that causes, perhaps at no particular or predictable moment, the final psychological break for the poor damned fool. Fassbinder loves greasy, pudgy, gluttonous, hard-drinking losers, probably because he saw himself as one, but alcohol as the vehicle of mental deterioration, and sometimes the means of actual death, seems to feature prominently in many Fassfilms.