The Marriage of Maria Braun Veronika Voss

"The Marriage of Maria Braun reminds us of the still immense possibilities of movies made by masters."—Vincent Canby, New York Times

Two deft allegories of post-World War II Germany: The Marriage of Maria Braun, with Hanna Schygulla enacting the nation's amazing economic recovery, and Veronika Voss, about the fading glory of a Third Reich movie star. One of Fassbinder's most famous films, The Marriage of Maria Braun stars Hanna Schygulla as a woman using sex, cunning, and intelligence to survive and prosper during WWII and its aftermath. Roger Ebert called it a "masterful epic," adding that "Maria Braun is played with great style and power by Hanna Schygulla." (1979; 120 mins.)

Compared by one critic to Sunset Boulevard, Veronika Voss is a wickedly satiric saga of a former Third Reich movie star grasping at her former glory. "A chilly, tough, wicked satire," noted Vincent Canby of the New York Times: "Photographed in knife-sharp black and white...it works entirely through the myths of movies." (1982; 104 mins.)