Before saying anything else about the movie I have to make an interesting linguistic remark. At her trial, Maria Braun said ''Den Bill hab' ich lieb gehabt, und ich liebe meinen Mann''. This translates to ''Bill was dear to me and I loved my husband''. Now, the translation certainly makes sense but what you can't translate in English is the linguistic subtlety. In German, the word for ''love'' is connected to or derived from the word ''dear'', just as in my native language, Romanian (Bill mi-a fost drag si am/nutresc o mare dragoste pentru sotul meu).
I've highlighted this fact because it really makes you ask yourself ''at which point does dearness end and love begin?''. It's also a foreshadowing of another character in the movie who would do anything to jump over this hurdle of dearness and leap directly into love and thus trying fails excruciatingly.
Changing our focus towards another aspect of ''Die Ehe der Maria Braun'', namely the Wirtschaftswunder that represents the context of the movie, I'm fairly disappointed of myself for I've never heard of this major period in the history of Germany. I knew that Western Germany and Austria ultimately healed after the war but I didn't know there was an economic boom in the 50's there. This made the movie a bit more alluring for a semi-history buff like me and I couldn't help but think how the emotional wounds and traumas provoked by the war hardly close for the German people, unlike the economic ones who can be plugged in a matter of years.
I think the amplitude to which I felt certain events was considerably magnified by Hanna Schygulla's Maria Braun. I couldn't imagine any other actress playing this role. She had everything. Natural beauty. A sensual performance. A unique, happy-go-lucky attitude. And an astoundingly cold-hearted one when needed. The rest of the cast was ok, though I didn't remember their names because I don't watch German movies as often as I should.
In the end, ''The Marriage of Maria Braun'' gets
An 8,5 out of 10 from me.
Changing our focus towards another aspect of ''Die Ehe der Maria Braun'', namely the Wirtschaftswunder that represents the context of the movie, I'm fairly disappointed of myself for I've never heard of this major period in the history of Germany. I knew that Western Germany and Austria ultimately healed after the war but I didn't know there was an economic boom in the 50's there. This made the movie a bit more alluring for a semi-history buff like me and I couldn't help but think how the emotional wounds and traumas provoked by the war hardly close for the German people, unlike the economic ones who can be plugged in a matter of years.
I think the amplitude to which I felt certain events was considerably magnified by Hanna Schygulla's Maria Braun. I couldn't imagine any other actress playing this role. She had everything. Natural beauty. A sensual performance. A unique, happy-go-lucky attitude. And an astoundingly cold-hearted one when needed. The rest of the cast was ok, though I didn't remember their names because I don't watch German movies as often as I should.
In the end, ''The Marriage of Maria Braun'' gets
An 8,5 out of 10 from me.