West Germany Trilogy

The Marriage of Mary Brown

The marriage of Mary Brown (1979) begins in the last days of the Second World War. After the ceremony of a hasty marriage, her husband Maria Brown is sent to fight with the advancing allies . After receiving the news of his death, Mary becomes the mistress of an African American soldier. When Maria's husband unexpectedly returns alive, she kills a soldier in the ensuing scuffle, but her husband takes the blame for the murder. Subsequently, Maria becomes an assistant and lover of a wealthy industrialist, presenting an exemplary example of post-war reconstruction.

Tosca Veronica Foss

Tosca Veronica Foss (1982) is a black and white film that tells about the decline of the life of Veronica Foss, a once popular actress. A sports journalist, enchanted by a mysterious and unbalanced actress, discovers that she suffers from addiction to opiates , caused by the actions of a doctor who wants to seize her inheritance. Despite all attempts, he is unable to save Veronica from a terrible death.

Lola

In the film, Lola (1981) tells about the head of the construction department named von Bom, who arrives in a small town and falls in love with a girl named Lola, not suspecting that she is a prostitute and mistress of a corrupt entrepreneur Shukert. Unable to reconcile his idealistic image of Lola with reality, von Bom succumbs to corruption, which he initially sought to fight.

Fassbinder realized his old idea to make a series of films devoted to West Germany during the “economic miracle” of the 1950s. The main characters were women, representing different categories of people in different circumstances. While the main stories were developed by Fassbinder himself, the detailed scripts for all three films were written by screenwriter Peter Mertesheimer , who worked with the director on some of his television projects.

Films were shot and released in a slightly different order than their accepted numbering. “Maria Brown”, released in 1979, is the earliest in terms of both production and chronology of the plot, which begins in 1945. However, the film became part of the trilogy in retrospect when Fassbinder added the headline "BRD 3" to "Lola", released in 1981. Veronica Foss Tosca - Fassbinder's penultimate film, created a year later, included the subtitle "BRD 2", and the film takes place somewhat earlier than in Lola. Fassbinder was not going to limit the series to a trilogy, but his plans were interrupted by an unexpected death.

The trilogy was released as a box set in DVD format by the Criterion Collection in September 2003.

In addition to the original idea of ​​creating films covering the period of the history of West Germany after World War II and the period of the economic miracle , there are other themes that unite these three films.

One of the common elements is the problematization of the question of whether it is worth “forgetting the past for the sake of moving into a bright future.” The heroines of all three films are trying to overcome their current circumstances, largely due to past experiences. Fassbinder criticized West Germany in the 1950s and subsequent years for being “forgotten” about her Nazi past because of the desire to develop and restore international prestige (for example, allowed former Nazi officials to function in society but also to in the structures of political power) ^[4] . As if under the influence of collective amnesia, the historical past, therefore, is not recognized and is not subject to rethinking.

The second parallel is the question of who exactly succeeded as a result of the economic progress of West Germany ^[5] . Fassbinder believed that while some Germans managed to get ahead during the "economic miracle", others were finally broken. For each successful person could find someone who suffered and lost. Veronica Voss is an example of a person who has been left behind by post-war Germany, since the heyday of her acting career fell on the days of the Third Reich . Maria Brown is an example of a woman who takes a decisive initiative in economic development for herself and her husband, but in the process she hurts others and ultimately removes emotionally from her loved ones. Lola is trying to take advantage of economic progress and is using her position to advance, but the people around her are trying to achieve the same goal with mixed results.

Another common point is the appearance of African-American soldiers in all three films. In Marriage Brown's Marriage there are two: a gallant soldier who becomes Mary's lover and a drunken soldier sticking to her on the train. The latter is played by Günter Kaufmann , who also appears as a soldier in two other films. It is unclear whether the soldier is the same person in all three films. The soldier’s figure can be seen as a clear example of the influence of the American occupation on post-war Germany, although the fact that he is African-American may have other meanings.

Each of the films has a distinctive visual style designed to reflect the specific character of the characters. The marriage of Mary Brown is shot in a muted color palette. Toson Veronica Foss uses rich black and white, referring to the aesthetics of noir films or films of German expressionism of the 1920s. The Lola film , inspired by the Blue Angel by Josef von Sternberg, uses very bold colors that resemble the style of technicolor .

• Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation
• Jones K. Heartbreak House: Fassbinder's BRD Trilogy (Eng.) . Criterion (September 23, 2003). The appeal date is June 24, 2019.