Set in 1928 Germany during Weimar Republic era, the film follows a man who has just been released in prison hoping to become a decent man unaware that he is living in a world where decency is hard to find. It is a sprawling film that explore the life of Franz Biberkopf (Gunter Lamprecht) as he was a former pimp that was put into prison for killing his girlfriend Ida (Barbara Valentin) in an act of rage. Upon his release, Biberkopf re-enters society with a promise that he will become a decent person only to encounter a world that is on the brink of collapse. Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s screenplay that includes his own narration that include events happening around Berlin during that year as it plays into the decline of the Weimar Republic is broken in thirteen episodes with the first episode with an 82-minute running time and the other 12 at around an hour. The script plays into Biberkopf’s willingness to become a good man and not get into trouble although he is an extremely flawed individual who is also naïve about the ways of the world as he also has a childlike demeanor in his facial expressions and drinks a lot to the point that he would descend into alcoholism numerous times.
Each episode opens with an operatic song with images of the Weimar Republic era where it plays into Biberkopf’s encounter with the new world as he has a few friends in a former lover in Eva (Hanna Schygulla) and Meck (Buchrieser Franz) as the former would often give him money and other things to help him out every once in a while, with the latter trying to help Biberkopf in getting a honest job. Biberkopf and Meck would often frequent at a bar run by Max (Claus Hom) who often observes a lot while also giving the former some advice on things. The first five episodes has Biberkopf struggling to find honest work while also beginning a relationship with a Polish woman in Lina (Elisabeth Trissenaar) as well as work with a friend of Lina’s father in Luders (Hark Bohm) in selling shoelaces where things go wrong leading to a mental breakdown for Biberkopf until he is helped by a man in Baumann (Gerhard Zwerenz) to get back on track. It is there where he would meet a businessman in Pums (Ivan Desny) who runs an illegal markets operation where Biberkopf would befriend one of his men in Reinhold (Gottfried John).
The two would go into a woman-swapping scheme to help curb Reinhold’s dependence on women where Biberkopf would engage into another relationship with another of Reinhold’s former girlfriends in Cilly (Annemarie Duringer). The happiness would be brief in the seventh episode where Biberkopf is asked to fill in for one of Pums’ men where some revelations occur and would leave Biberkopf dead and losing his right arm. Once Eva and her lover Herbert (Roger Fritz) learn what happened, Herbert decides to use his connections to bring problems to Pums though Pums eventually decides to pay for Biberkopf’s medical bills with contributions from his men minus Reinhold. After meeting Willy (Fritz Schediwy) at a cabaret club where Cilly was performing having not seen or heard about Biberkopf believing he had died from the accident. Biberkopf goes into business with Willy through dishonest means just as Eva would introduce Biberkopf to Mieze (Barbara Sukowa) who would become the love of his life.
Despite learning that she is a prostitute and going to political meetings that has him relapsing into alcoholism, he would still enjoy his time with Mieze though would get despondent over her job prompting him to go Pums for help despite reservations from people working for Pums. The script has Fassbinder often highlighting things where Biberkopf going into situations including bad ones where he would be too forgiving through those close to him are aghast over this. Even in the last two episodes where Biberkopf would go insane over a major incident leading to a two-hour epilogue as the 14th and final episode. It is an episode of its own where it is surreal in its overall presentation as it plays into Biberkopf’s own faults, naivete, refusal to see reality, and his lack of judgement towards those who are truly the worst.
Fassbinder’s direction is immense not just in its grand presentation but also in creating a world that is on the verge of collapse where it is dirty yet exciting. Shot on location at Bavaria Film Studios in Munich, Fassbinder creates a world that plays into a period as Fassbinder would also be the film’s production designer. The sets such as the apartment that Biberkopf lives in as well as the bar he often goes to are key set pieces in the film where Fassbinder’s usage of wide and medium shots cover a lot of space as there are a lot of scenes where Fassbinder shoots on a wide shot to play into Biberkopf’s disconnection with reality. There are also shots that would last longer than a few minutes in some of these wide shots where Fassbinder showcase something happening where Fassbinder would also narrate whatever a character is thinking about or an offscreen event that is happening outside of the scene.
Fassbinder would also maintain an intimacy in some of the settings where he would use some close-ups to play into some of the moments where Biberkopf would gain a semblance of happiness or engage into something hopeful. Even as it also play into moments of suspense such as a scene where Biberkopf fills in for one of Pums’ men as they make a getaway where Reinhold becomes uneasy over Biberkopf’s behavior. The direction would also have this dream-like element as it plays into Biberkopf’s own happiness that is fleeting where is unable to face reality. Yet, he would encounter it through a flashback in which he beats Ida to death as it would appear often as a reminder of him at his most inhumane. Even in a scene late in the eleventh episode where Mieze confesses to Biberkopf leading to a moment of violence that even shocks the sadistic Reinhold where he would intervene.
The film’s final two episodes plus its epilogue would be the emergence of the inhumanity that Biberkopf would be ignorant to where he succumbs to madness over a tragic event while those close to him are trying to make sense of his behavior. The film’s epilogue is where Fassbinder breaks all the rules where he create surrealistic sequences that play into Biberkopf’s troubled mind including his regrets, failures, and inability to see the dark side of humanity. Especially in set pieces where there are a lot of anachronisms in its setting and music soundtrack with a couple of angels (Margit Carstensen and Helmut Griem) commenting on what is happening with even Fassbinder himself making a cameo as an observer. The film’s ending is really about Biberkopf’s fate but also being disconnected from the world that has already fallen into total chaos where he has accepted his fate despite being in Hell on Earth. Overall, Fassbinder crafts an astonishing and visceral 14-part film about a troubled man’s attempt to become decent in an indecent world on the verge of collapse.
Cinematographer Xaver Schwarzenberger does brilliant work with the film’s 16mm photography stock with its emphasis on heightened lights for some of the daytime interior/exterior scenes as well as low-key lights for the scenes set at night with an emphasis on soft lighting in some parts of the film. Editors Julian Lorenz and Rainer Werner Fassbinder (in his Walsch Franz pseudonym) do excellent work in the editing in maintaining straightforward cuts as well as a few jump-cuts in some of the film’s montage sequences. Costume designer Barbara Baum does amazing work with the look of the clothes the men wear as well as the stylish clothing that the women wear during those times.
The visual effects work of Theo Nischwitz is terrific for the film’s epilogue as it adds to the surreal presentation such as a boxing match between Biberkopf and Reinhold. The sound work of Hans R. Weiss, along with sound mixer Milan Bor, is superb for its natural approach to the sound in the way music is presented from a gramophone and the way a pub or a club sounds. Music by Peer Raben is incredible for its music score ranging from brass pieces as well as elements of piano-based music like the late 1920s and some low-key electronic pieces to give the film its odd presentation while its music soundtrack also features many of the music from that period plus an operatic piece that opens each episode while its epilogue would feature some anachronistic music from the likes of the Velvet Underground, Janis Joplin, Donovan, Kraftwerk, Leonard Cohen, and Dean Martin.
The film’s tremendous ensemble cast feature some notable small roles and appearances from Udo Kier as a young cabaret club goer, Lilo Pempeit as Pums’ wife Peter Kuiper as a bald man who runs a decadent district full of prostitutes, Margit Carstensen and Helmut Griem as a couple of angels in the film’s epilogue, Karin Baal as Ida’s sister Minna whom Biberkopf meets and later rapes, Herbert Steinmetz as the newspaper seller Eddie that Biberkopf befriends, Axel Bauer as a former friend of Biberkopf in Dreske who is part of a communist group that Biberkopf dislikes, Jurgen Draeger as a Jewish sausage seller who politely asks why Biberkopf would wear the swastika, Helen Vita and Irm Herrmann as a couple of women who would date Reinhold as part of a swapping scheme with Biberkopf, Volker Spengler and Gunther Kaufmann in their respective roles as two of Pums’ men in Bruno and Theo, Gerhard Zwerenz as Baumann who would help Biberkopf recover from alcoholism, and Barbara Valentin as Biberkopf’s lover Ida whom he would kill in an act of rage and jealousy as she would often be seen in flashbacks.
Fritz Schediwy is terrific as Willy as a young criminal that Biberkopf befriends as he would align himself into some political causes that would put Biberkopf in trouble. Brigitte Mira is superb as the landlady Frau Bast whom Biberkopf is fond of as she always takes care of him. Ivan Desny and Hark Bohm are fantastic in their respective roles as the crime boss Pums and the salesman Otto Luders as two men who would give Biberkopf employment with the former being an illegal markets operator and the latter who would put Biberkopf into trouble and a mental breakdown. Elisabeth Trissenaar and Annemarie Duringer are excellent in their respective roles as two of Biberkopf’s lovers in the Polish woman Lina and the cabaret performer Cilly as these two different women who provide Biberkopf with a sense of purpose and care only for certain things to end the relationships abruptly.
Claus Holm and Roger Fritz are brilliant in their respective roles as the bar owner Max and Eva’s husband Herbert as two men who often bring advice to Biberkopf with the former being more patient while the latter has connections to help Biberkopf. Franz Buchrieser is amazing as Meck as an old longtime friend of Biberkopf who tries to help him find honest work while is a reluctant employee of Pums as he later feels regret for what happened to Biberkopf as he would also deal with a tragic event, he played a part of to his own regret. Gottfried John is incredible as Reinhold as a man Biberkopf befriends who also works for Pums as he is a man with a stutter but also a sadistic man that would take advantage of Biberkopf to the point of extreme measures. Hanna Schygulla is phenomenal as Eva as a former lover of Biberkopf who has become wealthy as she helps him whenever she can while also having some love for him where she also copes with his own views of the world and her concern for Mieze.
Barbara Sukowa is great as Mieze as a prostitute who becomes Biberkopf’s great love as she hopes to give him some hope while is also insecure thinking, she is not good enough for him where she later copes with his own activities and those he surrounds himself with. Finally, there’s Gunter Lamprecht in a spectacular performance as Franz Biberkopf as a former pimp who goes to prison for killing his girlfriend as he is released where he hopes to become a decent man. Lamprecht brings this childlike presentation as someone who is hopeful about starting a new lease on life unaware of the world he is in where he is brought down by his own naivety, lack of judgement, jealousy, and delusions about life as it is an intense performance that is also reserved at times but also dangerous once he goes into a rage as it is a career-defining performance from Lamprecht.
Berlin Alexanderplatz is a magnificent film by Rainer Werner Fassbinder that features a tremendous leading performance from Gunter Lamprecht. Along with its supporting ensemble cast, striking visuals, study of humanity during an inhumane time, an offbeat presentation, and a whimsical music soundtrack. It is a daunting film that is challenging in not just its 902-minute running time but also in its study of a man trying to fit in at a world that is constantly changing but on the verge of collapse during a crucial period in Germany’s history. In the end, Berlin Alexanderplatz is an outstanding film by Rainer Werner Fassbinder.
Rainer Werner Fassbinder Films: Love is Colder Than Death - (Katzelmacher) - (Why Does Herr R. Run Amok?) - (Rio das Mortes) - (The American Soldier) - (Whity) - (Beware of a Holy Whore) – The Merchant of Four Seasons - The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant - Eight Hours Don't Make a Day - (Jailbait) - World on a Wire - Ali: Fear Eats the Soul - (Martha (1974 film)) - (Effi Briest) - (Fox and His Friends) - (Mother Kuster’s Trip to Heaven) – (I Only Want You to Love Me) – Satan's Brew - (Chinese Roulette) - (Germany in Autumn) - (Despair) - (In a Year of 13 Moons) – The Marriage of Maria Braun - (Third Generation) - (Lili Marleen) – Lola - Veronika Voss - Querelle
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