Katzelmacher Love Is Colder than Death

Fassbinder himself appears in the underrated Katzelmacher and also in Love Is Colder than Death, his striking debut feature. Fassbinder's genius for ensemble acting found early expression in Katzelmacher, which focuses on a group of Munich 20-somethings with nothing better to do than drink, hang out, and taunt immigrants. "Short engrossing and relatively simple, Katzelmacher makes a terrific Fassbinder primer" remarked Stephen Schiff of The Boston Phoenix. (1969; 88 mins.)

In Love Is Colder than Death, Fassbinder plays Franz, a small-time pimp fending off two-bit gangsters who encroach on his turf. An homage to the films of Eric Rohmer, Claude Chabrol, and Jean-Pierre Melville, Fassbinder's first feature follows a bizzare love triangle between Franz, Franz's brutish lover Bruno, and their mutual girlfriend Joanna, played by Hanna Schygulla. The film caused a stir rivaling that of two other important debuts: Jean-Luc Godard's Breathless and Michelangelo Antonioni's L'Avventura. (1969; 88 mins.)