Hankoegal Reviews

Jail Bait (II) (1972 TV Movie)

what a pity this film is not known by most Fassbinder-fans

[8/10 · 18 January 2007]

Wildwechsel is one of the very good Fassbinder films. It's a family-story with all the restrictions in a typical Bavarian Fassbinder-family. Eva Matthes is the daughter in her puberty who wants to explore sexuality. Harry Baer is the young Romeo. But as always with Fassbinder the people surrounding the two - parents - are enemies of the relationship. I don't know, why this Fassbinder-film is never been shown on TV again and why it never got released on VHS or DVD - lucky people who have the film on celluloid ;-) Maybe it has to do with the author Franz Xaver Kroetz, that this very good Fassbinder-film from the center of his oeuvre is not available.

Like a Bird on a Wire (1975 TV Movie)

weird'n'funny personality show

[8/10 · 3 November 2006]

this is a curiosity within the Fassbinder-oeuvre. It is a personality-TV-show for German actress Brigitte Mira - the main actress in ALI - FEAR EATS SOUL. In different TV-studio-settings Brigitte Mira sings some popular songs starting with Leonard Cohens BIRD ON A WIRE in German language WIE EIN VOGEL AUF DEM DRAHT - the title of this show. Others I remember are KINDER HEUT' ABEND, DAS SUCH' ICH MIR WAS AUS, a song originally sung by Marlene Dietrich, as far as I remember from the BLUE ANGEL-period. Then Brigitte Mira sings EGON, known by Evelyn Künneke. During this song she is in her living room, drinking alcohol and getting more and more drunk. Between the songs she tells the story of her life briefly. A small bitch fighting scene is showing her with Evelyn Künneke on a train ride. Next scene she is walking the catwalk during a fashion show. One scene shows here singing to a bunch of leather guys in a gay bar. Fassbinder's scene. Another scene she is a in a gym with lots of muscular men working out in their tight pants - very camp and gay. During the last song a b/w-photography of Fassbinder himself is cut in for some seconds. The whole show is very 70ies, somehow cute and a homage for the great actress. A must-see for Fassbinder-fans.