Warum läuft Herr R. Amok (1970)

With slicked-down hair and three-piece suits, dependable Herr Raab is a technical draftsman. He gets along with his colleagues although his boss wants him to go beyond technical cleanliness... See full summary »

Directors:

Michael Fengler, Rainer Werner Fassbinder (as Rainer W. Fassbinder)

Writers:

Michael Fengler, Rainer Werner Fassbinder (as Rainer W. Fassbinder)

Stars:

Lilith Ungerer, Kurt Raab, Lilo Pempeit

3 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Lilith Ungerer	...	Frau R.
Kurt Raab	...	Herr R.
Lilo Pempeit	...	Kollegin im Büro
Franz Maron	...	Chef
Harry Baer	...	Kollege im Büro (as Harry Bär)
Peter Moland	...	Kollege im Büro
Hanna Schygulla	...	Hanna
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

Storyline

With slicked-down hair and three-piece suits, dependable Herr Raab is a technical draftsman. He gets along with his colleagues although his boss wants him to go beyond technical cleanliness to problem solving. He's a dutiful husband; his wife's a social climber and pushes him to seek a promotion, but they also share sweet moments. He's a caring father, helping his son with homework. His parents visit; his mother criticizes his wife. Old School friends drop by, as do neighbors. Some comment on Raab's wife's expensive tastes. His promotion may be a long shot, especially after he gives a dull and tipsy toast at an office dinner. But why would Herr Raab run amok?

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Plot Keywords:

colleague | draftsman | beer | couple | bureau | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

West Germany

Language:

German

Release Date:

17 November 1977 (USA)

Also Known As:

Warum läuft Herr R. Amok?

Filming Locations:

Munich, Bavaria, Germany

Box Office

Budget:

DEM 135,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Antiteater-Produktion,Maran Film,Süddeutscher Rundfunk (SDR)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In 2003 on a interview for Village Voice Hanna Schygulla claimed that this film was completely done by director Michael Fengler, whereas purported co-director 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. This fact has been confirmed by Michael Fengler himself in the 2008 documentation Gegenschuss - Aufbruch der Filmemacher (2008). He reported, that Fassbinder was involved neither in writing nor in directing of the movie and has visited the movie set at most twice during shooting.

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Goofs

When Herr R. leaves the doctor the camera team can be seen in the mirror on the wall.

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Connections

Featured in Sehnsucht nach Sodom (1989)

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Soundtracks

Stand by Me
Written by Ben E. King, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller
Performed by Ben E. King

User Reviews

Mr. Fassbinder, why do we see what we see?

Why does Mr. R. run Amok? This question opens the films. Apparently. At first site Kurt Raab seems to lead quite a good life. He has a creative job, colleagues that accept him, at home there's a beautiful wife and a nice son. But thanks to Fassbinder and his way of filming, we can see closer at Herr R.

From the beginning he is simply not there, as Patrick Bateman would put it. When his colleagues make jokes, he walks with them, but not laughs with them. When his wife brings a friend, we see his narrow-mindedness. She is self-assured and liberal with no clue of what to do with her life, something Kurt is unable to understand. He needs order. He is order. He trys to have everything perfect in his sense, he works technically perfect like a machine, but lacks (human) ideas, or tries to cure his son's speech problems, but he always fails.

His system of perfection does not work. He does not work. And it keeps going on. You see Kurt in different allday situations, where he doesn't behave (all too) strange in a obvious way. But watch him more carefully and you see that he's empty. He holds down all emotions. In a banal situation, when he sees that his life is not perfect at all, and unable to adjust his system to the others like he always was, he tries to make his life perfect by eliminating all disturbing factors. He runs amok. And he does so as he always did: Emotionless.

What Fassbinder wants to show us, is what lies beneath the human fassade. We never know what a person really thinks or feel, because we're all masters of disguise and on the other hand unable or unwilling to find out (another) one's real feelings. And that can be dangerous.