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I thought I already saw this movie but, since it was ages ago and since it was available on Netflix, I was quite eager to check it out again. Well, eventually, I'm pretty sure I never saw the damned thing before and I probably confused it with another movie directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder. On top of that, it had been such a long time since I saw a movie from this German director and I have to admit that I’m not really familiar with his work. Anyway, in this case, he gave such a bleak view on Germany around 10 years after WWII. Basically, sure, the Nazis were all gone, in fact, they were barely mentioned, but, if you believe Fassbinder, the German society was still deeply corrupt, decadent and depraved back then. Obviously, I'm not sure if he wanted to give a realistic portrait but there was still something terribly rotten about all these characters. Even the only seemingly good character, the naive von Bohm basically gave up at the end and gave in to his carnal desire by marrying Lola and turned a blind eye towards all the corruption in this city. Some other characters were also rather bewildering. Indeed, what was the deal with Esslin who was working for the city council, politically active and yet also playing drums in the evening at a brothel?!?! Another intriguing character was Lola's mother who suddenly completely disappeared at some point. At least, there is no denying that Barbara Sukowa was just so charismatic and mesmerizing playing the title character, even though I still don't get what was exactly her goal with von Bohm. In fact, if Germany was doing economically so well, how come did she have to work as a prostitute? However, once again, Fassbinder never tried here to deliver a sensical tale, his focus was to show what he felt about Germany in general and, well, it wasn't really pretty, I'm afraid. Anyway, to conclude, even if it didn't really blow me away, it was still a decent watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Rainer Werner Fassbinder's work.
7/10
