Ranier Werner Fassbinder’s masterpiece Berlin Alexanderplatz is being brought to local audiences by the German-Maltese Circle, starting tonight.
Considered to be Fassbinder’s own vision of humanity, it is a 14-part West German television mini-series adapted from the eponymous Alfred Döblin novel, which in itself was deemed to be one of the most important and innovative works of the Weimar Republic.
The immersive epic, restored in 2006, follows the hulking, childlike ex-convict Franz Biberkopf (Günter Lamprecht) as he attempts to become an honest soul amid the corrosive urban landscape of Weimar-era Germany. With equal parts cynicism and humanity, Fassbinder details a mammoth portrait of a common man struggling to survive in a viciously uncommon time.
Originally broadcast in 1980, it also stars Hanna Schygulla, Barbara Sukowa, Elisabeth Trissenaar and Gottfried John. Lamprecht won Best Actor at the Munich Film Festival for his role in Berlin Alexanderplatz.
The complete series is 15-and-a-half-hours long and was released theatrically in the US in 1983, where a movie theatre would show two or three parts of the series per night. It garnered a cult following in the US and was eventually released on VHS.
Episode 1 Die Strafe beginnt (The Punishment Begins) will be screened tonight and has a running time of 82 minutes. Film critic Mario Azzopardi will introduce the series.
Tonight’s episode is set in Berlin in 1928. Biberkopf is released from prison after serving four years for killing his girlfriend Ida. After settling into his old apartment he visits Minna (Karin Baal), Ida’s sister, who succumbs to his forceful advances. As the episode progresses he meets Lina Przybilla (Trissenaar), a young Polish woman, who moves in with him. Biberkopf places himself under the supervision of a charity called Prisoners’ Aid, to which he must report once a month while also remaining in employment to be able to stay in Berlin.
■ All episodes are being screened at the German-Maltese Circle in Valletta. Tonight’s event starts at 7pm. Entrance to all screenings is free and booking is not required, except for tonight’s opening episode, for which welcome drinks will be served. For more information or to book a place for tonight, e-mail gmc@germanmaltesecircle.org or call 2124 6967.
The rest of the episodes will be screened on January 13, 18, 20, 25 and 27. This space will cover the specifics on each date.