Effi Briest

Stars: Hanna Schygulla (The Marriage of Maria Braun, Berlin Alexanderplatz, The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant), Wolfgang Schenk, Ulli Lommel, Irm Hermann (The Merchant of Four Seasons, The Five Last Days). An unusual film for German director Rainer Werner Fassbinder, the gorgeously filmed Effi Briest is based on a classic 19th-century novel by German author Theodor Fontane about a young girl who marries into upper class society, rebels against convention, and pays a high price. Hanna Schygulla plays Effi, a carefree 17-year-old girl who marries the much older Baron von Instetten (Schenk). Walled up in the Baron's country house, Effi is forced to remain alone for long periods of time while the Baron is away on business. Her loneliness is compounded by fear as the Baron has told her about the family ghost that roams the halls. When Effi meets the urbane Major Crampas (Lommel), he tells her that the ghost story is fictitious, a mere story to keep Effi under the Baron's thumb. Effi is confused but she's also drawn to the company of the Major who doesn't treat her like an object or a possession, but rather as a person with ideas. However, a married woman consorting with a bachelor is trouble, and Effi suffers a horrendous series of penalties. Fassbinder's careful composition of each scene along with his masterful use of black and white make Effi Briest a breathtaking film to behold, above and beyond its excellent story. Audience: Foreign film fans and people who love great stories.(R. Pitman)[DVD Review--April 8, 2003--Wellspring, 140 min., in German w/English subtitles, not rated, $24.98--German wunderkind Rainer Werner Fassbinder's 1977 period piece on 19th century hypocrisy has been given a handsome spit shine in this digitally remastered transfer. Bottom line: One of Fassbinder's best looks better than ever.]