The Eclipse Viewer – Episode 29 – Early Fassbinder [Part 1]

This podcast focuses on Criterion’s Eclipse Series of DVDs. Hosts David Blakeslee and Trevor Berrett give an overview of each box and offer their perspectives on the unique treasures they find inside. In this episode, David and Trevor discuss Eclipse Series 39: Early Fassbinder.

About the films:

From the very beginning of his incandescent career, the New German Cinema enfant terrible Rainer Werner Fassbinder refused to play by the rules. His politically charged, experimental first films, made at an astonishingly rapid rate between 1969 and 1970, were influenced by the work of the Antiteater, an avant-garde stage troupe that he had helped found in Munich. Collected here are five of those fascinating and confrontational works. Whether a self- conscious meditation on American crime movies, a scathing indictment of xenophobia in contemporary Germany, or an off-the-wall look at the dysfunctional relationships on film sets, each is a startling glimpse into the mind of a twentysomething man who was to become one of cinema’s most madly prolific artists.

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Timeline for the podcast:

Introduction/Background (00:00:01 – 00:33:32)

Love is Colder than Death (00:33:33 – 01:02:34)

Katzelmacher (01:02:35 – 01:28:48)

Conclusion (01:28:49 – 01:30:45)

Buy The Box Set On Amazon:

Episode Links

Director Overview

• The Fassbinder Foundation – His Life – His Art


• Senses of Cinema


• Jim’s Reviews


• The Playlist


• Wikipedia


• Criterion


• Dangerous Minds (features video clip of 1969 Berlin Biennale, with Love is Colder than Death in competition.)


• Film.com ranking of all Fassbinder films from worst to best (one person’s opinion)

Box Set Reviews

• RogerEbert.com review by Steve Erickson


• The Dissolve review by Noel Murray


• PopMatters review by John Oursler


• Home Theater Forum review by Matt Hough


• DVDBlu review by Christopher S. Long

Love is Colder than Death

• David’s Journey through the Eclipse Series review


• Only the Cinema review by Ed Howard


• Cinepassion review by Fernando F. Croce


• Ozu’s World review by Dennis Schwartz

Katzelmacher

• David’s Journey through the Eclipse Series review


• Combustible Celluloid review by Jeffrey Anderson


• Strictly Film School review by Acquerello


• EFilmCritic review by Scott Weinberg

Next time on the podcast: Eclipse Series 39: Early Fassbinder [Part 2]

Contact us

• Twitter


• Email: theeclipseviewer (at) gmail.com


• David Blakeslee ( Twitter / Website )


• Trevor Berrett ( Twitter / Website )