Gods of the Plague

Starring:Harry Baer, Ingrid Caven, Micha Cochina, Carla Egerer, Jan George, Hannes Gromball, Yaak Karsunke, GÃ¼nther Kaufmann, Doris Mattes, Peter Moland, David Morgan (III), Lilo Pempeit, Kurt Raab, Katrin Schaake, Thomas Schieder, Hanna Schygulla, Marian Seidowsky, Lilith Ungerer, Margarethe von Trotta
Studio: Fox Lorber
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

The short-lived skyrocket named Rainer Werner Fassbinder began his prolific directing career with a burst of rule-breaking movies in 1969-70. Gods of the Plague, from that early eruption, is a kind of homage-deconstruction of the American crime movie, in the same vein as RWF's Love Is Colder Than Death and The American Soldier. An ex-con (zonked-out Harry Baer in an ankle-length leather jacket) wanders through grungy Munich, on an eventual collision course with a botched supermarket robbery. The film has virtually no narrative momentum, and carries the cheeky attitude of experimental theater--the movie stops cold as the hero listens to a German nonsense song in its entirety. Yet from the first five minutes you can sense the eye of a great filmmaker behind the exquisitely poised camera (clearly influenced in this one by the anything-goes spirit of early Godard). Fassbinder regulars Hanna Schygulla and Gunther Kaufmann are especially good here. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews:

Visually stunning, dramatically understated film noir.......2003-08-22

Gods of the Plague (released in 1970) is a powerful, visually stunning, yet dramatically understated film noir - and pure Fassbinder; Wellspring's DVD transfer is detailed and crisp. Fassbinder himself ranked this film fifth on the list he made, shortly before he died, of "The Top 10 of My Own Films." Not only does he pay homage to some of the masterpieces of this genre which he loved (from Kubrick's The Killing and Aldrich's Kiss Me Deadly to Godard's Breathless and Band of Outsiders), he brings his unique perspective, including his incisive sense of humor. This film is the centerpiece in a loose trilogy - of which each picture has a distinct dramatic and visual style (all shot in black and white by his frequent cinematographer, Dietrich Lohmann) - beginning with his debut feature, Love is Colder Than Death (1969), and concluding with The American Soldier (1970). (In 1970 alone Fassbinder made five feature films and directed three major stage productions!) Characters recur throughout the series; and they often use the same names as the actors playing them. The pivotal role is two-bit Munich hood Franz Walsch, played by Fassbinder himself in the first and third films, but (perhaps confusingly) by Harry Baer here (although Fassbinder, wearing the same black leather jacket from the first film, has a droll cameo as a different character). Baer brings some intriguing new qualities to the role, most notably a sleek, feral, yet passive, sexiness. It is also worth noting that "Franz Walsch" was Fassbinder's frequent pseudonym; he used it in the credits for the many films which he edited.

Fassbinder uses this trilogy - of which I believe Gods of the Plague is the best chapter - to explore many of the hidden aspects of the crime film, including its not infrequent homoerotic subtext, even as he expands its scope both psychologically and visually. This film alone should silence any criticism that Fassbinder is "not a visual director;" he was immensely flexible in creating the style best suited for each picture, ranging from the stark minimalism of Katzelmacher to the baroque extravagance of Chinese Roulette. Even at this early point in his career, he is a master at combining image and drama - carefully balanced between realism and stylization - to create an effect far greater than the sum of its parts. Fully as expressive as the visual design is the enormous depth of his characters. But that is revealed not so much through dialogue as furtive eye movements, the smallest of gestures, and the many riveting silences which punctuate this film. Comparing the menage a trois here (Franz, Margarethe, and "Gorilla," the affable hit man who killed Franz's brother - "It was only business" - but whom Franz loves anyway) with the one in Love is Colder Than Death (not to mention Truffaut's Jules and Jim) is fascinating. I give Gods of the Plague my highest recommendation, but if possible see it in the context of the films which precede and follow it.

Fassbinder 4-Pack (Love Is Colder Than Death / Gods of the Plague / Fear of Fear / Chinese Roulette) (Amazon.com Exclusive)
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Fassbinder 4-Pack (Love Is Colder Than Death / Gods of the Plague / Fear of Fear / Chinese Roulette) (Amazon.com Exclusive)
Starring: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Manufacturer: Wellspring Media
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Love Is Colder Than Death

ASIN: B00009AOAU
Release Date: 2003-06-10

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Love Is Colder Than Death
The first feature in the frantic career of Rainer Werner Fassbinder is, like Godard's debut Breathless, a nod to the traditional gangster movie. This time, however, the tough-guy attitudes are imparted to a trio of typical Fassbinder losers, slouching about in the drab underworld of Munich. They are played by Alain Delon lookalike Ulli Lommel (who poses in a trenchcoat and film noir fedora), Fassbinder himself, and the director's blond goddess Hanna Schygulla. The film works hard to subvert conventional notions of movie storytelling, with lots of loooong pauses and stylized gestures--and as such, feels more like a trial run than a full-blown Fassbinder meisterwork. But everywhere, in the insolent opening shot or the final thrilling cut from car interior to bleak landscape, you can sense the utter confidence that burbled out of this gifted German: he was only 23, and he was going places in a hurry. --Robert Horton

Gods of the Plague
The short-lived skyrocket named Rainer Werner Fassbinder began his prolific directing career with a burst of rule-breaking movies in 1969-70. Gods of the Plague, from that early eruption, is a kind of homage-deconstruction of the American crime movie, in the same vein as RWF's Love Is Colder Than Death and The American Soldier. An ex-con (zonked-out Harry Baer in an ankle-length leather jacket) wanders through grungy Munich, on an eventual collision course with a botched supermarket robbery. The film has virtually no narrative momentum, and carries the cheeky attitude of experimental theater--the movie stops cold as the hero listens to a German nonsense song in its entirety. Yet from the first five minutes you can sense the eye of a great filmmaker behind the exquisitely poised camera (clearly influenced in this one by the anything-goes spirit of early Godard). Fassbinder regulars Hanna Schygulla and Gunther Kaufmann are especially good here. --Robert Horton

Fear of Fear
If not among the better-known films by the gifted German director Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Fear of Fear is nevertheless an absolutely characteristic work. A housewife, locked into a dull life with her distracted husband and two small children (plus nattering mother-in-law and sister-in-law living in the apartment upstairs) finds herself seized by uncontrollable anxiety. Although the wife has an affair with a doctor, there is little conventional melodrama; instead, Fassbinder strips away plot mechanics in favor of a complete identification with the woman's mysterious angst. The central role is tailor-made for one of RWF's favorite leading ladies, Margit Carstensen, whose regal cheekbones and elegant air belie the instability beneath the skin. Fassbinder's eye is exacting--the apartment is a dead-on purgatory of bourgeois nothingness--and his framing shows the influence of his Hollywood idol, Douglas Sirk. This is a small work in the bulging Fassbinder canon, but it's impeccably realized. --Robert Horton

Chinese Roulette
An elegantly baroque exercise from the middle of his brief and brilliant career, Chinese Roulette finds Rainer Werner Fassbinder exploring the sinister side of a weekend in the country. At an isolated mansion, a husband and wife bump into each other--with their lovers in tow. Their lame daughter shows up with her mute nanny, adding to the tension, and the festivities culminate in a spiteful truth-telling game. Fassbinder choreographs the claustrophobic action as though it were Last Year at Marienbad filmed as soap opera parody, with glittering contributions from cinematographer Michael Ballhaus and RWF's longtime composer, Peer Raben. It's fun to watch, although the decadent sense of a snake chasing its tail ultimately makes this one feel like minor-league Fassbinder. Along with stock-company regulars Margit Carstensen and Brigitte Mira, the cast includes a pair of former Godard heroines (still looking stunning), Anna Karina and Macha Meril. --Robert Horton

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