Effi Briest (1974)

In the nineteenth century, seventeen year old Effi Briest is married to the older Baron von Instetten and moves into a house, that she believes has a ghost, in a small isolated Baltic town.... See full summary »

Director:

Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Writers:

Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Theodor Fontane (novel)

Stars:

Hanna Schygulla, Wolfgang Schenck, Ulli Lommel

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Hanna Schygulla	...	Effi Briest
Wolfgang Schenck	...	Instetten
Ulli Lommel	...	Major Crampas
Lilo Pempeit	...	Frau Briest
Herbert Steinmetz	...	Herr Briest
Ursula Strätz	...	Roswitha
Irm Hermann	...	Johanna
Karlheinz Böhm	...	Wüllersdorf (as Karl-Heinz Böhm)
Karl Scheydt	...	Kruse
Barbara Lass	...	Polnische Köchin
Rudolf Lenz	...	Geheimrat Rummschüttel
Andrea Schober	...	Annie von Instetten
Eva Mattes	...	Hulda
Theo Tecklenburg	...	Pastor Niemeyer
An Dorthe Braker	...	Frau Pasche (as Anndorthe Braker)

Storyline

In the nineteenth century, seventeen year old Effi Briest is married to the older Baron von Instetten and moves into a house, that she believes has a ghost, in a small isolated Baltic town. She soon bears a daughter, Annie, and hires the lapsed Catholic Roswitha to look after her. Effi is lonely when her husband is away on business, so she spends time riding and walking along the shore with Major Crampas. Instetten is promoted to Ministerial Councillor and the family moves to Berlin, where Effi enjoys the social life. Six years later, the Baron is given letters from Crampas to Effi that convince him that they had an affair. He feels obliged to challenge Crampas to a duel and banish Effi from the house.

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Plot Keywords:

prussian officer | dissatisfaction | duel | young wife | career | 

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Genres:

Drama | History

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

West Germany

Language:

German

Release Date:

16 June 1977 (USA)

Also Known As:

Effi Briest

Filming Locations:

Neustadt, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany

Box Office

Budget:

DEM750,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$11,623, 16 February 2003

Gross USA:

$8,144

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$8,144

Company Credits

Production Co:

Tango Film

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Rainer Werner Fassbinder insisted that Kurt Raab have a bald patch shaved into his scalp for an important scene. Raab did what was asked of him only for Fassbinder to drop the scene altogether.

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Quotes

Effi Briest: One's associations are connected not only with one's personal experiences, but also with what one has heard or happens to know.

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Connections

Featured in Century of Cinema: Die Nacht der Regisseure (1995)

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Soundtracks

Havanaise in E major, Op. 83
Composed by Camille Saint-Saëns

User Reviews

The word "masterpiece" comes immediately to mind...

This film has everything one could ask for: astonishing visual intelligence and imagination, wonderfully evocative, impeccably composed images that draw on silent cinema and painting, all perfectly adapted to the very moving story being told, and the period/milieu in which it unfolds: Effie Briest is presented as enclosed in the many different spaces (most of them - especially the interiors - saturated with stifling formality, social rectitude and conformity) through which she moves and in which she lives, or tries to live (the bird in the cage being a transparent symbol of all this). Quite simply, Fassbinder knows - knew - what "mise en scene" really means. The passage of time is brilliantly handled (through, for example, the use of the fade to white, intertitles and a moving voice-over narration), and the cast is flawless, as well as being flawlessly directed. A film of immense dignity and power, yet it somehow remains understated...