The Merchant of Four Seasons (1971)
"Händler der vier Jahreszeiten" (original title)

Hans is a street fruit peddler and born-loser. His choice of career upsets his bourgeois family, causing him to turn to drinking and violence. After recovering from a debilitating heart ... See full summary »

Director:

Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Writer:

Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Stars:

Hans Hirschmüller, Irm Hermann, Hanna Schygulla

3 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Hans Hirschmüller	...	Hans Epp
Irm Hermann	...	Irmgard Epp
Hanna Schygulla	...	Anna Epp, Hans's sister
Andrea Schober	...	Renate Epp, Hans's daughter
Gusti Kreissl	...	Mother Epp
Klaus Löwitsch	...	Harry Radek
Karl Scheydt	...	Anzell
Ingrid Caven	...	The merchant's great love
Kurt Raab	...	Kurt, Heide's husband
Heide Simon	...	Heide, Hans's second sister
Peter Chatel	...	Dr. Harlach
Elga Sorbas	...	Marile Kosemund, a whore
Lilo Pempeit	...	Customer
Walter Sedlmayr	...	Fruit cart salesman (as Walther Sedlmayer)
El Hedi ben Salem	...	The Arab (as Salem El Heïdi)

Storyline

Hans is a street fruit peddler and born-loser. His choice of career upsets his bourgeois family, causing him to turn to drinking and violence. After recovering from a debilitating heart attack, his business finally begins to take off. However the more he becomes a credit to his family, the more depressed he becomes. One sociable day, while toasting his friends and family, he decides to drink himself to death.

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Plot Keywords:

heart attack | fruit | death | dysfunctional marriage | binge drinking | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

West Germany

Language:

German Arabic

Release Date:

4 November 1971 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

A zöldségkereskedő

Filming Locations:

Munich, Bavaria, Germany

Box Office

Budget:

DEM 325,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Tango Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Featured in Yearning for Sodom (1989)

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Soundtracks

"Buona Notte"
(uncredited)
Written by Rocco Granata & Jules Verard
Performed by Rocco Granata

User Reviews

The human spirit crushed

I didn't find this film as accessible as 'Fox & his Friends' but it was a moving portrayal of a typical Fassbinder victim figure, the eponymous barrow-boy, Hans Epp, whose hopes and dreams are eventually crushed by stultifying conformity (family & society). Some of the scenes are exaggerated (the family confrontations) but I particularly liked the sequence where Hans is desperately searching for meaning & comfort; he tries to find some peace in natural surroundings, goes back to his first lost love in order to recapture past feelings (she's only interested in a quick fling before her husband returns) and visits his sister, perhaps the only person who has any degree of sympathy for him, only to find she's too busy with work.

A poignant story of a vulnerable inarticulate man crushed by his mundane surroundings and bourgeoise, middle-class German values obsessed with economic success and a upward mobility that conveniently papers over the cracks of its more disturbing past.