The Merchant of Four Seasons

Starring:Hark Bohm, Ingrid Caven, Peter Chatel, Michael Fengler, El Hedi ben Salem, Irm Hermann, Hans HirschmÃ¼ller, Gusti Kreissl, Klaus LÃ¶witsch, Lilo Pempeit, Kurt Raab, Karl Scheydt, Daniel Schmid, Andrea Schober, Hanna Schygulla, Walter Sedlmayr, Marian Seidowsky, Heide Simon, Elga Sorbas
Studio: Fox Lorber
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Rainer Werner Fassbinder had 12 features under his belt when he finally found success at home and earned international acclaim for The Merchant of Four Seasons. Hans Hirschmüller stars as Hans, who returns from a stint in the French Foreign Legion with high hopes and grand plans for the "economic miracle" of 1950s Germany. Fired from the police force for dallying with a hooker, he sets himself up as a street peddler selling fruits and vegetables from a pushcart, much to the horror of his bourgeois family and his socially conscious lover, who leaves him in disgust. Settling for a loveless marriage with a manipulative wife (Irm Hermann), Hans sinks into depression and ill health and finally falls silent as his new partner quietly usurps his place. It's a chilly but compelling portrait of a mercenary, often unfeeling family desperate to grab a piece of the economic boom, and Fassbinder invests it with a mix of street realism, melodrama, black comedy, and theatrical flourish. At the center is Hans, a prisoner of an unhappy life except for the moments he takes his cart to the streets and calls out his wares like a character in some working-class opera---until even that is denied him and he embarks on a special, utterly Fassbinderian escape. It's an unforgettable climax to one of Fassbinder's best films. Hanna Schygulla, Kurt Raab, and Ingrid Caven are among Fassbinder's familiar stock company of costars, and Fassbinder briefly appears in a small role. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews:

The Prince of Pain.......2005-07-14

Fassbinder is the Prince of Pain. In "Merchant,"baby-faced Hans grew up with a cruel mother & driven-to-success siblings. Hans joined the foreign legion to prove himself-but got the greatest defeat of his life. Hans struggles to sell fruit in apartment courtyards (a dying trade). To sum it up: In battle, so called buddies could have helped more. In life, his wife could have helped more. In a unique Fassbinder ending both comic & melancholy,Hans loses interest in life, then ironically a woman he loves(now married)offers up a quickie (too little too late).

Another jewel film of the unforgettable Fassbinder.......2004-09-20

The prolific career of Rainer Werner Fassbinder (thirty six films in seventeen years ) reached one of the glorious peaks with that work . A fruit peddler watches his unexceptional life abrades slowly as a tragic adagio.
The creative powers of Rainer made of him the tragic memory of the Post War Germany . His talent allowed him evoke with horrid precision the timeless and small tragedies of the common people . All these films served him as the secure plataform for his mythical Berlin Alexanderplatz , some years after .
Powerful script and ensamble process . Watch once more to that supreme goddess and exceptional actress of the german cinema : Hanna Schygulla .

Rainer Werner Fassbinder--Remember the Man and his Films.......2003-05-05

This could be a good introduction to the terse, emotionally-layered films of Fassbinder, who is becoming recognized as having had a great impact during his short 37 years (deceased in 1982). His films focus on human themes that transcend era or epoch. Here we find a fruit-peddler, who, although seemingly doomed in his early forays into the world and cursed by his mother, continues to work to find meaning in his relationships with women, men, and the world of commerce. Yet, this well-meaning man sinks further into despair and depression, as life goes on. A poignant tale that is timeless, and as visionary today as it was the day it was released. Very highly recommended!

Deeply moving film & superb DVD "Masterworks Edition".......2002-08-08

MERCHANT OF FOUR SEASONS is the deeply moving tale of a German fruit-peddler searching for love and meaning in his life. Not only was this Fassbinder's first major commercial success, it is also one of his best films, and marks a crucial turning point in his career. Stylistically it both looks back to his earlier, more abstract "theatrical" films (like KATZELMACHER), and ahead to his unique melodramas (MARRIAGE OF MARIA BRAUN). MERCHANT is an ideal film to begin exploring - or re-exploring - Fassbinder. Wellspring Media has created a superb "Masterworks Edition" DVD of the film, made from a gorgeously-restored print, with your choice of hearing either a new Dolby 5.1 soundtrack (which I recommend) or the original stereo. They also include two full-length documentaries about Fassbinder: Juliane Lorenz's 90-minute "Life, Love & Celluloid," a fascinating look at Fassbinder's legacy (featuring no film clips but staged scenes, in English, from his plays, plus many revealing interviews); and Alessandro Colizzi's "The Many Women of Fassbinder," which offers a good overview of Fassbinder's career - featuring extensive film clips - while deconstructing the myth of Fassbinder's "misogyny." There is also an insightful and entertaining optional full-length commentary track by Fassbinder's friend Wim Wenders (director of WINGS OF DESIRE, and co-founder with Fassbinder, Werner Herzog, and others, of the influential 1970s New German Cinema movement), and much more. This is an exceptional DVD release of a great film.

ASTOUNDING WORK FROM THE GREATEST.......2000-10-19

filmmaker of the German New Wave,Merchant of Four Seasons is a truly heartbreaking film about thesorrows of a misspent life, conducted in a beautifully joyous manner.Hirschmuller, and especially(as usual) the actresses, Irm Hermann and Hanna Schygulla, are stunning .One of Master Fassbinder's most quietly powerful films, a study in how a great character study is to be done.

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