biography
| name: |
Fassbinder, Rainer Werner
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pronunciation:
[fasbinder]
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (1946–82)
|
| biography:
| Film director, writer, and actor, born in Bad Wörishofen, S Germany. He began his career as an actor in fringe theatre in Munich, founding his own ‘anti-theatre’ company, a commune of actors which included Hanna Schygulla. His work in cinema began in 1969, and was much influenced by Jean-Luc Godard. He completed over 40 full-length films, largely politically committed criticisms of contemporary Germany, notably Die bitteren Tränen der Petra von Kant (1972, The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant) and Die Ehe der Maria Braun (1979, The Marriage of Maria Braun), which won first prize at the 1979 Berlin Film Festival. He also adapted novels such as Effi Briest (1974) by Theodor Fontaine, and Querelle (1982) by Jean Genet. The most prolific writer-director-actor of the New German Cinema of the 1970s, he died at 36 as a result of alcohol and drug abuse. |
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