Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980– )

This film, which is basically the longest narrative film ever made, is a 15-1/2 hour episodic exploration of the character of Franz Biberkopf, "hero" of Alfred Döblin's acclaimed novel, as ... See full summary »

Stars:

Günter Lamprecht, Claus Holm, Hanna Schygulla

3 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Günter Lamprecht	...	Franz Biberkopf (14 episodes, 1980)
Claus Holm	...	Wirt (12 episodes, 1980)
Hanna Schygulla	...	Eva (12 episodes, 1980)
Franz Buchrieser	...	Gottfried Meck (11 episodes, 1980)
Brigitte Mira	...	Frau Bast (10 episodes, 1980)
Karlheinz Braun	...	Rechtsanwalt Löwenhund (10 episodes, 1980)
Roger Fritz	...	Herbert (9 episodes, 1980)
Gottfried John	...	Reinhold Hoffmann (9 episodes, 1980)
Barbara Sukowa	...	Mieze (7 episodes, 1980)
Günther Kaufmann	...	Theo (7 episodes, 1980)
Ivan Desny	...	Pums (7 episodes, 1980)
Volker Spengler	...	Bruno (7 episodes, 1980)
Vitus Zeplichal	...	Rudi (7 episodes, 1980)
Barbara Valentin	...	Ida (6 episodes, 1980)

Storyline

This film, which is basically the longest narrative film ever made, is a 15-1/2 hour episodic exploration of the character of Franz Biberkopf, "hero" of Alfred Döblin's acclaimed novel, as well as the Alexanderplatz area of Berlin that he inhabits.

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Plot Keywords:

treason | murder | weimar republic | pimp | mock suicide | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

West Germany Italy

Language:

German

Release Date:

10 August 1983 (USA)

Also Known As:

Berlin Alexanderplatz: Remastered

Filming Locations:

Bavaria Filmstudios, Geiselgasteig, Grünwald, Bavaria, Germany

Box Office

Budget:

DEM 13,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bavaria Film, Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR), Radiotelevisione Italiana (RAI)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

910 min 894 min (14 parts)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Michael Ballhaus, director Rainer Werner Fassbinder's longtime collaborator, was the film's original cinematographer. He quit during pre-production, fed up with Fassbinder's irrational behavior (which included refusing to speak to Ballhaus, communicating with him through an assistant instead). According to Ballhaus, this was Fassbinder's way of "punishing" him for deciding to shoot a different movie with another director after their previous collaboration, The Marriage of Maria Braun.

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Connections

Referenced in Mystery Science Theatre 3000: Gamera (1991)

User Reviews

Prelude to a Third Reich

Very long (15 hours in all), very worth seeing. Based on Alfred Doeblin's novel of the same name, "Berlin Alexanderplatz" is set in and around Berlin during the Weimar Republic era, the decade immediately preceding the establishment Hitler's Third Reich in 1933.

The workers of '20s Berlin are taking it on the chin. Mass unemployment reigns alongside the greed of the landlord and capitalist classes. People are reacting and acting in various ways to survive. As usual, some of the unemployed turn to crime; others to prostitution. Most of the film's cast will see the dawn of the "thousand year Reich" with their eyes only half way open.

But life must go on and it will go on and it does go on in Berlin during Weimar. It's an exciting time as well, a time when the puritanism of the countryside is being exchanged for a chance to live free and wild in a sleepless city chock full of cabarets and kniepe. Of course, the Nazis didn't like this and neither did their supporters, the conservative majorities of rural Germany.

As the film's director,R.W. Fassbinder put it,Doeblin's novel,BERLIN ALEXANDERPLATZ, "offered a precise characterization of the twenties; for anyone who knows what came of all that, it's fairly easy to recognize the reasons that made the average German capable of embracing his National Socialism."

All this turmoil and potential for explosive change are seen by the audience of "Berlin Alexanderplatz" through the eyes of one guy, Franz Biberkopf. Walk, ride, rob, love, drink and despair with Franz Biberkopf. Best bring along a case or two of good lager while you're immersing yourself in the prelude to "Gotterdamerung".