Effi Briest/Fontane Effi Briest (1974) - Fassbinder makes film a novel in cold, divisive passion project

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Hanna Schygulla as the titular character of Rainer Werner Fassbinder's Effi Briest looks rather doomed on this somewhat theatrical poster for the film

 

In late 19th century Germany, young Effi Briest becomes the wife of a boring but wealthy aristocrat, who forces her life up by its roots. But for a time her heart beats for another ...

Effi Briest is a very odd film, probably among the most literary feeling films of all time. It is overloaded with intertitles, letters, narration and dialog and as a result comes across as exhaustingly text-oriented. In addition, its original title has a symptomatically exhaustingly convoluted extra-title, and if the two are accepted as one long title, the film has one of the longest titles in cinema history. It goes; Effi Briest oder Viele, die eine Ahnung haben von ihren Möglichkeiten und Bedürfnissen und dennoch das herrschende System in ihrem Kopf akzeptieren durch ihre Taten und es somit festigen und durchaus bestätigen, which translates to; 'Fontane Effi Briest or Many People Who Are Aware of Their Own Capabilities and Needs Just Acquiesce to the Prevailing System in Their Thoughts and Deeds, Thereby Confirm and Reinforce It'.

It is the 11th theatrical feature from great German writer-director Rainer Werner Fassbinder (Ali: Fear Eats the Soul/Angst Essen Seele Auf (1974)), adapting Theodor Fontane's (Grete Minde (1880)) same-titled 1895 novel. Fassbinder redeems Effi Briest with the film's visual power, which rests on undeniable photographic qualities, (B/W cinematography by Jürgen Jürges (Time of the Wolf/Le Temps du Loup (2003)) and Dietrich Lohmann (The Innocent (1993))). 

Effi Briest is an exceedingly uncompromising film in its strict ascetic sense, - narratively as well as aesthetically, as emotionless acting and stylistically distancing efforts go hand in hand for a so-called 'Verfremdungseffekt', an alienating effect which should make audiences think beyond the film. It certainly makes its nastily cold characters seem all the more distanced from us, and its story's tragedy impotent. Watching it I couldn't help wonder, whether Effi Briest might have somehow proved stronger, had it been set in France instead of Germany.

 

Related posts:

Rainer Werner Fassbinder:  The Marriage of Maria Braun/Die Ehe der Maria Braun (1979) - Fassbinder blows up post-WWII Germany

Ali: Fear Eats the Soul/Angst Essen Seele Auf (1974) or, Ali und Emmi und die Anderen

Watch a scene from the film here

Cost: 750k DEM
Box office: 38.5 mil. ITL (Italy only)
= Uncertain - but reportedly a hit
[Effi Briest premiered 21 June (Berlin International Film Festival) and runs 140 minutes (135 minutes in the US version). Fassbinder was deeply impassioned about making the film, but funding it took three years. His involvement stretched to his narrating it himself as well as casting his own mother in the role as Effi Briest's mother. He has said of his deep connection with the material due to his perception that Fontane “rejected everybody and found everything alienating and yet fought all his life for recognition.” Filming took place in Germany, Vienna, Austria and in Ærøskøbing on the Danish island Ærø. The film follows Fontane's words closely in its narration, dialog and letters. The film was reportedly a hit in West Germany (according to Elke Siegel in A Companion to Rainer Werner Fassbinder) but only reached a US release in 1977 and an Italian in 1982. The novel and film's implicit critique of patriarchy was viewed as highly topical to the 1970s German audiences following student revolts and women's rights fights from 1968 onward. Fassbinder followed the film with Fox and His Friends/Faustrecht der Freiheit (1975). Effi Briest is fresh at 70 % with a 7.1/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Effi Briest?