Login
I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder and since it was available on Netflix, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, to be honest, I have to admit that I had a rather hard time to connect with the damned thing. I think it must he the 3rd movie I saw from this director and I think I'm getting slowly acquainted with his style though. Basically, all his movies have a rather dark, oppressive and depressing mood and, as result, at least as far as I'm concerned, they are not really easy or fun to watch and this movie was not exception. In this case, he seemed that he was inspired by 'Sunset Boulevard', possibly one of the best films ever made and I have to admit that the downfall of Veronika Voss was quite intriguing. Indeed, Voss was a former famous actress in the 30's and now some kind of bipolar decadent drug addict and there is no denying that Rodel Zech was just so charismatic and pretty much pitch-perfect in this role. However, the whole 'Sunset Boulevard' angle was only half of the movie, the other half focused instead on a psychiatric clinic and its doctor who was basically functioning as a fancy drug dealer. Well, this turn of events was seriously bewildering and, to be honest, it seemed to be too far-fetched and, therefore, I didn't really care for it. However, I found out afterwards that it was actually based on the true story of Sybille Schmitz, a famous German actress who couldn’t find work after WWII, became an addict under the influence of her physician and indeed committed suicide in a similar fashion. Anyway, the most interesting thing with these movies is probably the subtext, how Fassbinder wanted to show that, after WWII, even though most Germans wanted to forget everything and move on with their lives, there was actually something terribly rotten about German society, at least, that's what Fassbinder seemed to believe. Anyway, to conclude, even if it never really fascinated me, 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
