Veronika Voss (1982)

A washed up UFA actress, kept by her doctor, raises suspicion in a sports journalist.

Director:

Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Writers:

Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Pea Fröhlich

Stars:

Rosel Zech, Hilmar Thate, Cornelia Froboess

4 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rosel Zech	...	Veronika Voss
Hilmar Thate	...	Robert Krohn
Cornelia Froboess	...	Henriette
Annemarie Düringer	...	Dr. Marianne Katz
Doris Schade	...	Josefa
Erik Schumann	...	Dr. Edel
Peter Berling	...	Filmproduzent / Dicker Mann
Günther Kaufmann	...	G.I. / Dealer (as Günter Kaufmann)
Sonja Neudorfer	...	Verkäuferin
Lilo Pempeit	...	Chehm
Volker Spengler	...	1. Regisseur
Herbert Steinmetz	...	Gärtner
Elisabeth Volkmann	...	Grete
Hans Wyprächtiger	...	Chefredakteur
Peter Zadek	...	2. Regisseur

Storyline

Munich, 1955: A sports journalist meets Veronika Voss, an UFA actress who supposedly had an affair with Goebbels. Now declining, Voss is kept by her "kind" doctor, Dr. Katz, supplying her house, food, clean clothes and her favourite: morphine. Voss, trying to come back towards the cinema, cannot perform an absurdly simple scene, but it attracts the attention of the journalist, who suspects that something's very wrong regarding her doctor.

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Plot Keywords:

washed up star | actress | morphine | drugs | new german cinema | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

West Germany

Language:

German English

Release Date:

13 May 1982 (Netherlands)

Also Known As:

Veronika Voss

Filming Locations:

Bavaria Studios, Bavariafilmplatz 7, Geiselgasteig, Grünwald, Bavaria, Germany

Box Office

Budget:

DEM2,600,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$11,623, 16 February 2003

Gross USA:

$8,144

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$8,144

Company Credits

Production Co:

Laura Film, Tango Film, Rialto Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Part of the BRD Trilogy along with The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979) and Lola (1981). "BRD" stands for Bundesrepublik Deutschland, the official name of West Germany and of the united contemporary Germany, period in which those three stories takes place.

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Goofs

The film is set in 1955 but the song "The Battle of New Orleans" by Johnny Horton, released in 1959, is heard on the radio a number of times.

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Quotes

Veronika Voss: You're very kind, Mr. Krohn.

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Connections

Referenced in Inglourious Basterds (2009)

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Soundtracks

Run, boy run
Written by Lee Hazlewood
Performed by Sanford Clark

User Reviews

My brief review of the film

Beautifully photographed in simple black and white, with some lovely gliding shots and some interesting camera angles and framing, the film is an amazement on a visual scope, even if the screenplay and acting are nothing special. Fassbinder's choice of lighting is excellent, giving true stark contrast between areas of black and areas of white in certain scenes. Sound is a significant aspect too, with soft radio recording heard in the background of just about every scene. The meaning behind such an audio style is not clear, but still it provides an interesting feel if not much else. As already alluded to however, the technical aspects outweigh the rest of the film. It is a rather cold tale with awkward characters, which are hard to sympathise with. Towards the end it also goes off on a bit of a tangent, from being a drama to a thriller. The film definitely seems more dedicated to its style than its substance, but that only makes is a certainly degree less fascinating to watch. The style quite literally sparkles and the film applies a few interesting editing tricks to change from scene to scene. If not involving as a tale, it is nevertheless great "eye candy".