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:

actress | psychic | insane woman | former star | part of trilogy | 

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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:

DEM 2,600,000 (estimated)

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

The film is included on Roger Ebert's "Great Movies" list.

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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

Alter Mann: When you read a book to the end, it's time to close it.

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Connections

Spoofed in Grindhouse (2007)

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Soundtracks

High On A Hilltop
Written by Tommy Collins
Performed by The Berlin Ramblers

User Reviews

Quite good

A man runs into a pretty but aging woman in the middle of a rainstorm. He politely protects her from the downpour with his umbrella, and even lifts her over a fence so she can get to her bus. He also gets on the bus, and, beginning to pant, she declares that she can't go near anyone else on the bus, because she's a famous actress and she'll be thronged. The other passengers on the bus look up at the exasperated woman, but don't pay her any more mind than that. A bit later, the woman proudly tells the man that she is Veronika Voss, and all he can do is politely nod. She hasn't been in a movie for three years, and hasn't been in a good one for longer than that. Veronika has to try really hard to pin the man, Robert, down and seduce him, and even when she accomplishes this feat he doesn't seem particularly interested. Robert's interest does grow when he begins to discover some nasty secrets about her life, notably that she is addicted to morphine. A strange doctor seems to be little more than a local drug dealer when he begins to look into the situation.

The plot is decent; it would have been a really good one for a classic Hollywood film starring Joan Crawford or Bette Davis or someone like that. Its greatest worth is in the performance of Rosel Zech, who has the titular role. Cornelia Froboess as Robert's girlfriend and Annemarie Düringer as the wicked doctor are also good. The character of Robert is never very interesting. The black and white cinematography (Xaver Schwarzenberger) and the unconventional score (Peer Raben) are very good. The tape I watched was not in a very good condition, so I may have liked it more if I had seen a better copy. 8/10.