Satan's Brew Chinese Roulette

"A kind of 'Father Knows Best' on acid."--Janet Maslin on Satan's Brew

Witness one of Fassbinder's most perverse films, Satan's Brew, and the comic nightmare Chinese Roulette, along with two of Fassbinder's rarely seen shorts. Satan's Brew focuses on a revolutionary poet whose delusions are grounded in misanthropy and sadomasochism. A devistating attack on the cult of the artist and, by Fassbinder's account, "an experiment that has to do with a lot of totally personal things that I've been involved with." (1976; 113 mins.)
A weekend in the country becomes a comic nightmare in Chinese Roulette when a mean daughter of wealthy parents invites their respective lovers for a visit. "Camp lyricism of such density...becomes a weapon" noted the New York Times. Fassbinder himself comments that "The film shows how people are so alienated that they continue their relationships even when they've long been finished. I want to show that all human relationships are nothing but repetition and ritual." (1976; 86 mins.)
Starting tonight's program are the rare Fassbinder shorts The City Tramp (1966; 10 mins.) and The Little Chaos (1966; 9 mins.).