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Effi Briest

Original title: Fontane Effi Briest
  • 19741974
  • Not RatedNot Rated
  • 2h 15m
IMDb RATING
6.9/10
2.5K
YOUR RATING
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • IMDbPro
Fontane Effi Briest (1974)
  • Drama
  • History
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. ... Read allIn 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... Read allIn 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 walki... Read all
IMDb RATING
6.9/10
2.5K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Rainer Werner Fassbinder(also narrator)
  • Writers
    • Rainer Werner Fassbinder
    • Theodor Fontane(novel)
  • Stars
    • Hanna Schygulla
    • Wolfgang Schenck
    • Ulli Lommel
Top credits
  • Director
    • Rainer Werner Fassbinder(also narrator)
  • Writers
    • Rainer Werner Fassbinder
    • Theodor Fontane(novel)
  • Stars
    • Hanna Schygulla
    • Wolfgang Schenck
    • Ulli Lommel
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 16User reviews
    • 23Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 win & 1 nomination

    Photos81

    Fontane Effi Briest (1974)
    Fontane Effi Briest (1974)
    Fontane Effi Briest (1974)
    Ulli Lommel and Hanna Schygulla in Fontane Effi Briest (1974)
    Hark Bohm and Hanna Schygulla in Fontane Effi Briest (1974)
    Ulli Lommel and Hanna Schygulla in Fontane Effi Briest (1974)
    Wolfgang Schenck in Fontane Effi Briest (1974)
    Ulli Lommel, Wolfgang Schenck, and Hanna Schygulla in Fontane Effi Briest (1974)
    Hanna Schygulla and Herbert Steinmetz in Fontane Effi Briest (1974)
    Hanna Schygulla in Fontane Effi Briest (1974)
    Fontane Effi Briest (1974)
    Hanna Schygulla in Fontane Effi Briest (1974)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Hanna Schygulla
    Hanna Schygulla
    • Effi Briestas Effi Briest
    Wolfgang Schenck
    Wolfgang Schenck
    • Instettenas Instetten
    Ulli Lommel
    Ulli Lommel
    • Major Crampasas Major Crampas
    Karlheinz Böhm
    Karlheinz Böhm
    • Wüllersdorfas Wüllersdorf
    Lilo Pempeit
    • Frau Briestas Frau Briest
    Herbert Steinmetz
    • Herr Briestas Herr Briest
    Ursula Strätz
    • Roswithaas Roswitha
    Irm Hermann
    Irm Hermann
    • Johannaas Johanna
    Karl Scheydt
    Karl Scheydt
    • Kruseas Kruse
    Barbara Lass
    Barbara Lass
    • Polnische Köchinas Polnische Köchin
    Rudolf Lenz
    • Geheimrat Rummschüttelas Geheimrat Rummschüttel
    Andrea Schober
    Andrea Schober
    • Annie von Instettenas Annie von Instetten
    Eva Mattes
    Eva Mattes
    • Huldaas Hulda
    Theo Tecklenburg
    • Pastor Niemeyeras Pastor Niemeyer
    An Dorthe Braker
    • Frau Pascheas Frau Pasche
    • (as Anndorthe Braker)
    Peter Gauhe
    Peter Gauhe
    • Vetter Dagobertas Vetter Dagobert
    Barbara Valentin
    Barbara Valentin
    • Marietta Tripellias Marietta Tripelli
    Hark Bohm
    Hark Bohm
    • Apotheker Gieshübleras Apotheker Gieshübler
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Rainer Werner Fassbinder(also narrator)
    • Writers
      • Rainer Werner Fassbinder
      • Theodor Fontane(novel)
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
    • All cast & crew

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    Storyline

    Edit
    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. —Will Gilbert
    • new german cinema
    • swinging
    • voice over
    • voice over narration
    • train
    • 72 more
    • Plot summary
    • Add synopsis
    • Genres
      • Drama
      • History
    • Certificate
      • Not Rated
    • Parents guide

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The complete title of the film is one of the longest titles (if not the longest) in film history: "Fontane Effi Briest oder viele, die eine Ahnung haben von ihren Möglichkeiten und ihren Bedürfnissen und trotzdem das herrschende System in ihrem Kopf akzeptieren durch ihre Taten und es somit festigen und durchaus bestätigen"
    • 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.

    • Connections
      Featured in Century of Cinema: Die Nacht der Regisseure (1995)
    • Soundtracks
      Havanaise in E major, Op. 83
      Composed by Camille Saint-Saëns

    User reviews16

    Review
    Top review
    6/10
    Effing good!
    I consider Rainer Werner Fassbinder to be the single most overrated director of all times. I have desperately tried to understand what all the fuss is about when most of his movies seem like movie Experiments gone badly wrong. Effi Briest is at least an accomplished movie with a unique style, although at 2 hours 15 minutes it's pretty slow and overly long.

    Fassbinder being an eccentric artiste, couldn't just use the title of the novel but came up with a monstrous title (which the IMDb spellchecker doesn't allow me to quote here) that doesn't make much sense in German, but seems to give the movie a Marxist twist (it alludes to "many know their possibilities and requirements but chose to support the ruling system"). The title is usually mercifully shortened to just "Fontane Effi Briest".

    At the time, the sound recording of films was still a considerable technical problem, so that the entire film was dubbed (the voices and partially also the background noises were re-recorded in a studio and added to the film in post-production). The dubbing was done very meticulously so that the voices are in perfect synchronicity with the lip movements. The voices are in several cases not of the actual actors, for example Eva Mathes was dubbed by another actress, and voiced yet another actress). This gives the film a touch of artificiality and a sense of heightened reality, which goes well with the slow pace of the story.

    So, for a Fassbinder, it's a surprisingly watchable movie. At the same time, there is no narration, no tension, nothing is building up to anything. It's love it and sit through it, or switch off the video.

    Interestingly, Fassbinder also has no intention of putting a new angle on the jaded story of the romantic girl falling victim to an uncaring world. I would love to see Effi as a competent woman trying to make her own rules, or even as a femme fatale for a change.
    helpful•5
    3
    • Karl Self
    • Jan 25, 2017

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • June 16, 1977 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • West Germany
    • Language
      • German
    • Also known as
      • Fontane Effi Briest
    • Filming locations
      • Neustadt, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
    • Production company
      • Tango Film
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • DEM 750,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $8,144
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $11,623
      • Feb 16, 2003
    • Gross worldwide
      • $8,144
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      2 hours 15 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

    Related news

    Still Life: Fassbinder in ’74
    Nov 29MUBI
    Scott Reviews The Rainer Werner Fassbinder Collection [Arrow Video Blu-ray Review]
    Apr 28CriterionCast

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