Televising the work of an avant-garde, openly homosexual director says as much about a West Germany still struggling with its postwar identity in the 1970s as it does about Fassbinder's stature. Railroad stationmaster & petty Nazi Party official Bolwieser (Raab) seems to have it made in his small town between the wars: a secure, respectable job, a position of authority & the most desirable woman in town as his wife. Both he & his wife Hanni (Trissenaar) discover that her beauty & his position are not enough to make a marriage work. After putting up with numerous petty humiliations from her husband--most of them all the more humiliating because they are thoughtless & unintentional rather than calculated & deliberate--she slowly, quietly & deviously explores how far she can go to undermine his power over her. Even as she begins to have affairs with his friends, Bolwieser goes from ignoring his wife's silent rebellion to actually enabling it. In doing so he risks not only his marriage & self-respect but his entire position in society. If you're looking for a noir story of seduction & betrayal like "Double Indemnity" or a sophisticated European battle of the sexes like the contemporary "Swept Away," you will find nothing of the kind. As with all Fassbinder characters, Bolwieser & his wife are individuals highly resistant to gender stereotyping, though they are far from sexless. Bolwieser's love for Hanni is unshakable & while he's aware that he's inadequate, he doesn't know why. Nor do the conventions of his day allow him the means to find out. Hanni never hates Bolwieser or is even very contemptuous of him. Her selfishness is so complete, casual & unassuming that it sometimes has an almost virginal purity which helps explain her husband's powerlessness. Struggling with their own problems & held back by the same societal mores, their friends & neighbors understand little but assume much. Longtime Fassbinder player Raab, who excels at giving somewhat mousy, slightly neurotic characters a very human complexity, is in top form as the unhappy stationmaster. Newcomer Trissenaar, who went on to a successful TV career, is as deft as any Fassbinder actress. Her subtle portrayal of a woman for whom soft but inexorable manipulation is almost instinctive will be quite a change for those accustomed to the over-the-top femdemons created by Linda Fiorentino, Sharon Stone, Lena Olin & Glenn Close. "Bolwieser" is, in a way, much scarier because the viewer, having gotten to know the characters, isn't allowed to escape the suspension of disbelief or take refuge in stereotype or genre. It was another triumph for Fassbinder, who would explore similar themes with his biggest hit,"The Marriage of Maria Braun," before destroying himself. Americans will probably find only the shorter Fassbinder theatrical cut known as "The Stationmaster's Wife," which lacks the intricate subplots of the miniseries but is no less engrossing. It's interesting that the TV version is named for the husband & the movie version for the wife.
6 Reviews
more tragic filmmaking interest from Fassbinder and company
Quinoa198425 April 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Here's something that I can't help but mention right off the bat: there's a bird in the home that Xaver (kind of like a next-gen Peter Lorre in frequent Fassbinder actor Kurt Raab) shares with his wife Hanni (Elisabeth Trissenaar). Why do they have this bird? They never seem to take care of it, and it might appear to be simply another of the objects that this director loves to use (along with the late Michael Ballhaus, may he rest in peace) to crowd the frame and to make things tight and constrictive, as if these people can't get out of the life they've made for themselves. But the bird's chirping is loud and abrasive - at first, watching this in my living room during a spring time when the birds can't shut up, I thought it was coming from outside - and it serves an underlying, likely metaphoric purpose that can't be unintentional (Fassbinder was something of a perfectionist, by some accounts, despite his work being so quick and prolific).
Is this bird one of these two unhappy people, the stationmaster or the wife? It could be neither, and its chirping is there to remind them that neither has a moment's peace with the other. Even from the start, Hanni makes things uneasy for a newly wed Xaver who just wants to get down and do his husbandly duties in the sack (she says she doesn't want sex, at least just yet, as she doesn't want kids right away - spoiler, she'll never have his, even if he wanted them, which it never seems to cross his mind as a way to save the marriage). Eventually, he'll try to control her more, though at the same time it's a weak kind of control, and his submission to her is more about wanting to fulfill her desires and make her happy.
The only question is, aside from anything to do with sex (which she may get elsewhere), can he do it on a fundamental, empathetic level? Can these two *relate* to one another in any significant way? It'd be easy to say this is Fassbinder, after many films (and some more to come before his untimely death five years later), making a story that is not fully on the woman's side. She IS in the wrong here, cheating on her husband with two local men, kind and pragmatic Merkl and Schafftaler (the later being an extraordinarily swarthy Udo Kier, complete with mustache and profession being a hairdresser). But what about his reactions? Does he realize he's being made a dupe and a fool of, being made a cuckold but also as a laughing stock for others in the town (no, really, there's a scene where he closes the door on a bunch of townies who seem to know that his wife's sleeping on the side with others, and break out into gut-busting, even cruel laughter)?
And yet I'm also not sure if Fassbinder is on his side either - or, perhaps, Fassbinder feels empathy and a total sadness for both sides, that perhaps if there was such a thing in early 20th century Germany as marriage counseling they could try to work things out, but there isn't and this marriage can't really be saved. There's melodrama and super-heightened moments of despair, from both sides, and both actors certainly bring their all into these heightened displays of dramaturgy. Another yet: while Fassbinder can see this marriage is unworkable, the story is also one of love, of some kind, and the master Bolweiser *does* love his wife and wants to care for her. He even tries to not be the super-jealous, suspicious type, and if he is, and it does happen, he can't help it.
At the same time this woman has her own agency, so there's not as much room to feel some of the immediate sympathy, despite all other issues, that one saw in other female protagonists (though sometimes in other circumstances) like Martha and Fear of Fear. Hanni knows exactly what she's doing, so one looks on her differently than one does Bolweiser - and on both sides there's some gray areas to be found in the very HIGH dramatic touches, where characters declare loudly and then show their passions even louder (again, perhaps, like the bird in the cage acting out even as it's not going anywhere). And meanwhile, occasionally, we see the other townspeople or those who work under this Stationmaster - one effective shot shows Bolweiser in a room having a brief conversation with his wife about money or something else, and there are two figures reflected on the glass window of the door looking in. Who cares if there's other work to be done, look at this highly charged, trainwreck of a relationship going on in front of us!
Though there is some degree of ambiguity one may find with some of the characterizations, the story itself doesn't have that luxury as it throttles ahead to its dramatic destination. It's a film made with a striking visual confidence and spirit, but I wonder if what Fassbinder cut out to make it a 109 minute feature film would have (or could have) added more to this marriage and events that could flesh things out not so much character wise but with the story. On the whole, considering it was edited down by its filmmaker, it doesn't feel compromised, I'd only be curious what it could make fuller so that we have more than just the impressions of this mostly downhill relationship and her ties with the other men in her life.
Is this bird one of these two unhappy people, the stationmaster or the wife? It could be neither, and its chirping is there to remind them that neither has a moment's peace with the other. Even from the start, Hanni makes things uneasy for a newly wed Xaver who just wants to get down and do his husbandly duties in the sack (she says she doesn't want sex, at least just yet, as she doesn't want kids right away - spoiler, she'll never have his, even if he wanted them, which it never seems to cross his mind as a way to save the marriage). Eventually, he'll try to control her more, though at the same time it's a weak kind of control, and his submission to her is more about wanting to fulfill her desires and make her happy.
The only question is, aside from anything to do with sex (which she may get elsewhere), can he do it on a fundamental, empathetic level? Can these two *relate* to one another in any significant way? It'd be easy to say this is Fassbinder, after many films (and some more to come before his untimely death five years later), making a story that is not fully on the woman's side. She IS in the wrong here, cheating on her husband with two local men, kind and pragmatic Merkl and Schafftaler (the later being an extraordinarily swarthy Udo Kier, complete with mustache and profession being a hairdresser). But what about his reactions? Does he realize he's being made a dupe and a fool of, being made a cuckold but also as a laughing stock for others in the town (no, really, there's a scene where he closes the door on a bunch of townies who seem to know that his wife's sleeping on the side with others, and break out into gut-busting, even cruel laughter)?
And yet I'm also not sure if Fassbinder is on his side either - or, perhaps, Fassbinder feels empathy and a total sadness for both sides, that perhaps if there was such a thing in early 20th century Germany as marriage counseling they could try to work things out, but there isn't and this marriage can't really be saved. There's melodrama and super-heightened moments of despair, from both sides, and both actors certainly bring their all into these heightened displays of dramaturgy. Another yet: while Fassbinder can see this marriage is unworkable, the story is also one of love, of some kind, and the master Bolweiser *does* love his wife and wants to care for her. He even tries to not be the super-jealous, suspicious type, and if he is, and it does happen, he can't help it.
At the same time this woman has her own agency, so there's not as much room to feel some of the immediate sympathy, despite all other issues, that one saw in other female protagonists (though sometimes in other circumstances) like Martha and Fear of Fear. Hanni knows exactly what she's doing, so one looks on her differently than one does Bolweiser - and on both sides there's some gray areas to be found in the very HIGH dramatic touches, where characters declare loudly and then show their passions even louder (again, perhaps, like the bird in the cage acting out even as it's not going anywhere). And meanwhile, occasionally, we see the other townspeople or those who work under this Stationmaster - one effective shot shows Bolweiser in a room having a brief conversation with his wife about money or something else, and there are two figures reflected on the glass window of the door looking in. Who cares if there's other work to be done, look at this highly charged, trainwreck of a relationship going on in front of us!
Though there is some degree of ambiguity one may find with some of the characterizations, the story itself doesn't have that luxury as it throttles ahead to its dramatic destination. It's a film made with a striking visual confidence and spirit, but I wonder if what Fassbinder cut out to make it a 109 minute feature film would have (or could have) added more to this marriage and events that could flesh things out not so much character wise but with the story. On the whole, considering it was edited down by its filmmaker, it doesn't feel compromised, I'd only be curious what it could make fuller so that we have more than just the impressions of this mostly downhill relationship and her ties with the other men in her life.
Why doesn't Herr B. run Amok?
Horst_In_Translation26 August 2016
Warning: Spoilers
This is "Bolwieser", also known as "The Stationmaster's Wife", a West German German-language film from 1977 and let me start by saying that there is one version that runs for over 3 hours and another that runs for slightly under 2 hours. I watched the latter. Here we have another work by filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder from the mid-1970s, his possibly most prolific phase. And it is another work by the infant terrible together with Kurt Raab, who appeared in many Fassbinder films. There are some more people playing major roles in here that Fassbinder used to work with regularly such as Volker Spengler, but not as many as usual for Fassbinder. This movie will have its 40th anniversary next year. Maybe you need to be a bit of a sadist in order to appreciate this film as Raab's character gets humiliated by everybody else in here from start to finish. This includes not only his colleagues and "friends" or the law, but most of all his wife played by Elisabeth Trissenaar who keeps cheating on him behind his back and even gets him to swear under oath at a court of law that he thinks she is faithful and you can already imagines who suffers the most from these legal consequences.
I like Fassbinder and I love Raab who I think is an amazing actor, which is why I managed to enjoy this film a lot. There were many scenes were you could just shake your head at how everybody acts towards Bolwieser, but there were also scenes where you could wonder to which extent he is responsible himself for the lack of respect he gets. I felt it almost never dragged and I am tempted to say that I would have liked to watch it for another hour in the long version and there is really not a better compliment for a film, even if it would certainly have been a less essential watch I guess. In terms of the visual side, costumes and sets are nicely established too, but that's almost a given for Fassbinder, who adapted the Oskar Maria Graf here. Ihe supporting characters do a fine job too. I may be a bit biased with my admiration for this film here and appreciation of Raab's performance because he is one of my favorites from his generation, but I do believe that people not familiar with Fassbinder or Raab can choose this one to get an insight into these people's careers. It is fairly easy to find access to and make a connection. I also think this film may make for a great duo watch together with the other Fassbinder/Raab collaboration I mentioned in the title. I give a thumbs-up here and recommend the watch. A fine example of how Germany also had to offer some great quality in terms of filmmaking from the 1970s against the big quantity of mediocre and trash films.
I like Fassbinder and I love Raab who I think is an amazing actor, which is why I managed to enjoy this film a lot. There were many scenes were you could just shake your head at how everybody acts towards Bolwieser, but there were also scenes where you could wonder to which extent he is responsible himself for the lack of respect he gets. I felt it almost never dragged and I am tempted to say that I would have liked to watch it for another hour in the long version and there is really not a better compliment for a film, even if it would certainly have been a less essential watch I guess. In terms of the visual side, costumes and sets are nicely established too, but that's almost a given for Fassbinder, who adapted the Oskar Maria Graf here. Ihe supporting characters do a fine job too. I may be a bit biased with my admiration for this film here and appreciation of Raab's performance because he is one of my favorites from his generation, but I do believe that people not familiar with Fassbinder or Raab can choose this one to get an insight into these people's careers. It is fairly easy to find access to and make a connection. I also think this film may make for a great duo watch together with the other Fassbinder/Raab collaboration I mentioned in the title. I give a thumbs-up here and recommend the watch. A fine example of how Germany also had to offer some great quality in terms of filmmaking from the 1970s against the big quantity of mediocre and trash films.
Congenial adaptation
Billiam-421 August 2022
Congenial adaptation of the Oskar Maria Graf novel meticulously dissects petty bourgeois society and ideology at a time just before the Nazi takeover of the country; an intense melodrama with excellent cast from Fassbinder's actors troupe.
He who cannot defend himself, perishes
hasosch1 March 2009
Warning: Spoilers
"Bolwieser" - so the original title of Fassbinder's two-part TV production as well as the title of the novel by Oskar Maria Graf which Fassbinder used, is the station-master of Werburg, a small upper-Bavarian town, in the 20ies. He married the beautiful daughter of the local brewery-owner. Not so splendidly looking himself, he is sexually depending on her and likes to submit himself to her commands. He reads every wish from her eyes and is awarded with contempt. For him, it seems that the position he has reached in life is just his dream come true; so, he is without ambition and quite content in his little world.
However, his seeming happiness breaks when his wife starts having affairs with several men in town. Although Bolwieser is aware that people are already gossiping that his wife has been seen nightly going ín or coming out of the neighbors' houses, he keeps quiet: Franz Xaverl Bolwieser is an almost Austrian soul, one of the last representatives of the K.u.K. monarchy that fell apart with the famous shot in 1914 in Sarajevo. So, although he is a German, he has not a ghost of a doubt that this possible infamy of his wife is the will of a higher instance - exactly as it had been the will of this higher instance to make him the station-master of Werburg. Bolwieser even swears a false oath in order to protect his wife from their neighbors. However, when his wife leaves one of her lovers, this lover reports Bolwieser at the police for having sworn a false oath. Now, there is the moment for his wife to let him down for ever: in court, she takes party for the lover, and Bolwiser is sentenced to four years in prison. Being absolutely sure of her husbands faithfulness towards her, Bolwieser's wife even sends him an already filled form which he has only to sign: his agreement for divorce. Mechanically like a puppet, we see Bolweiser put his signature on the sheet of paper and expressing to the guard his polite wish that he might go soon back into his cell. "Bolwieser" belongs - together with "Faustrecht der Freiheit" (English title: "Fox and his friends") to the group of "men"-movies of Fassbinder, which are less known then his "women"-movies around the figures of Lola, Lili Marleen, Veronika Voss and Maria Braun. While in "Fox", we see a man being destroyed in a homosexual relationship, in "Bolwieser", we recognize for once in Fassbinder's work a woman destroying a man who is unable to defend himself.
However, his seeming happiness breaks when his wife starts having affairs with several men in town. Although Bolwieser is aware that people are already gossiping that his wife has been seen nightly going ín or coming out of the neighbors' houses, he keeps quiet: Franz Xaverl Bolwieser is an almost Austrian soul, one of the last representatives of the K.u.K. monarchy that fell apart with the famous shot in 1914 in Sarajevo. So, although he is a German, he has not a ghost of a doubt that this possible infamy of his wife is the will of a higher instance - exactly as it had been the will of this higher instance to make him the station-master of Werburg. Bolwieser even swears a false oath in order to protect his wife from their neighbors. However, when his wife leaves one of her lovers, this lover reports Bolwieser at the police for having sworn a false oath. Now, there is the moment for his wife to let him down for ever: in court, she takes party for the lover, and Bolwiser is sentenced to four years in prison. Being absolutely sure of her husbands faithfulness towards her, Bolwieser's wife even sends him an already filled form which he has only to sign: his agreement for divorce. Mechanically like a puppet, we see Bolweiser put his signature on the sheet of paper and expressing to the guard his polite wish that he might go soon back into his cell. "Bolwieser" belongs - together with "Faustrecht der Freiheit" (English title: "Fox and his friends") to the group of "men"-movies of Fassbinder, which are less known then his "women"-movies around the figures of Lola, Lili Marleen, Veronika Voss and Maria Braun. While in "Fox", we see a man being destroyed in a homosexual relationship, in "Bolwieser", we recognize for once in Fassbinder's work a woman destroying a man who is unable to defend himself.
Not Terrble, But Not Riveting Either. With An Ending That Is Lacking.
ArmandoManuelPereira19 August 2020
Certaimly not a tertible film. At times its even interesting. Some of the filns camera work and framing is interesting as well. The biggest difficulty I had with it was its length and its ending, which seemed empty or lacking something. In addition, some of the characterization of the husband was absurd as were some of the plot points. Still, it's worth watching provided you don't expect a riveting experience.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
