Mother Küsters Goes to Heaven (1975)

Frau Kusters is preparing dinner late one seemingly ordinary afternoon in her seemingly ordinary kitchen in Frankfurt, Germany. Mrs. Kusters wants to add canned sausages to the stew, her ... See full summary »

Director:

Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Writers:

Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Kurt Raab

Stars:

Brigitte Mira, Ingrid Caven, Margit Carstensen

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Brigitte Mira	...	Emma Küsters
Ingrid Caven	...	Corinna
Margit Carstensen	...	Marianne Thälmann
Karlheinz Böhm	...	Karl Thälmann
Irm Hermann	...	Helene
Gottfried John	...	Niemeyer
Peter Kern	...	Nachtclubbesitzer
Kurt Raab	...	Barbesitzer Gustav
Gustav Holzapfel	...	Herr Holzapfel
Lilo Pempeit	...	Sekretärin
Peter Chatel	...	Photograph
Peter Bollag	...	Photograph
Vitus Zeplichal	...	Reporter
Volker Spengler	...	Photograph
Y Sa Lo	...	Terroristin

Storyline

Frau Kusters is preparing dinner late one seemingly ordinary afternoon in her seemingly ordinary kitchen in Frankfurt, Germany. Mrs. Kusters wants to add canned sausages to the stew, her annoying daughter-in-law thinks otherwise. The point, we soon find out, is moot: Mr. Kusters has murdered the personnel director at the soap factory where he works before committing suicide.

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Plot Keywords:

loss of husband | suicide | frankfurt germany | murder suicide | german communist | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Did You Know?

Trivia

[All trivia items for this title are spoilers.]

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Quotes

Emma Küsters: Everybody's out for something. Once you realize that, everything is simple.

User Reviews

Finally! A Fassbinder movie that I like!

Mother Kunters is just so drolly funny. The story is about a woman coping with her husband's death. Her husband died after he fell into some machinery at work. Oh, and there's something else. Her husband killed 2 people on the job before doing himself in. Actually, if you listen closely during the first 15 minutes of the movie, the "There's something else" line is repeated 3 times, which is very oddly funny. Mrs. Kunsters is of course, devastated by the news, and when her children get together, they all don't really get along, and deal with the death in different ways, her daughter is especially malicious, using the death to promote her laughable music career. Mrs Kusters, not finding solace anywhere, finally finds a couple willing to listen and feel compassion. Problem is of course, they're COMMUNISTS! Ha ha. Pretty soon they're convincing poor Mrs Kusters that her husband's death is directly related to The Plight of The Common Worker! I mean, that's priceless. Pretty soon, she's getting caught up with the hardline commies and soon violently protesting against newspapers that published negative stories about her husband. I mean, clearly we're dealing with manipulation, (both personal and political) and Fassbinder does it brilliantly here. As you could tell by the title of my review, I'm not the biggest Fassbinder fan, but I personally loved this one. Although the ending (the American one even more so) leaves a little bit to be desired, I, all in all, enjoyed this tremendously.

Details

Country:

West Germany

Language:

German

Release Date:

23 March 1976 (Denmark)

Also Known As:

Mother Küsters Goes to Heaven

Filming Locations:

Frankfurt am Main, Hesse, 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:

Filmverlag der Autoren, Tango Film

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1