Word: maria
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...Frank Maria...
...Maria L. St. Brisson Moreno Columbus...
...Hollywood director Douglas Sirk (Magnificent Obsession) and the '60s Warhol disciple Paul Morrissey (Flesh). But unlike his predecessors, Fassbinder does not recognize the limits of the form. Camp is fine for movies that want to trade exclusively in offbeat humor and florid emotions. In Maria Braun, Fassbinder makes the serious mistake of try ing to convey ideas...
...movie is about a beautiful, clever woman who rises from the ashes of postwar Germany to prosperity in business. Maria's whole life is a series of opportunistic and mercenary schemes; as the script puts it, she even needs "a contract to enjoy life." En route to the top, she uses sex and love as bargaining chips to manipulate her husband, family and employers. Inevitably, she pays the price of total dehumanization...
There is nothing wrong with this familiar yet entertaining tale, or with Hanna Schygulla's finely shaded and often sensuous portrayal of the protagonist. The trouble stems from Fassbinder's belief that Maria can serve as a damning metaphor for modern Germany's Economic Miracle. Since his style expresses complex emotions and ambiguous political history in broad theatrical gestures, he never makes his case. Eventually the strain between form and content becomes irritating. The final shot is a portrait of Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, who is thus equated with the film's opening image of Hitler...