Fassbinder on Society

Director

Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Tagline

Three Films by Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Synopsis

RW Fassbinder's keen critique of German society is none more obvious than in this three-film boxset combining Katzelmacher, Chinese Roulette and Satan's Brew, films in which he rages against societal pressures to do with xenophobia, the institution of marriage, patriarchy and the fetishisation of consumerism. Fassbinder's revolutionary spirit comes to the fore in these rare and insightful films, available as a boxset for the first time in Australia!

Katzelmacher
In Munich, a group of friends enjoy the banality of their structured lives: arguing, chatting, smoking and having sex, their days are uneventful until a Greek immigrant sparks sexual jealousy which leads to racial hostility.

Chinese Roulette
Wealthy and powerful Gerhard, convinvced his wife and disabled daughter are elsewhere, takes his mistress up to his sprawling chateau. To his surprise, he walks in to find his wife on the floor with her own lover...

Satan's Brew
Walter Kranz is stuck in the grips of writer's block, and uses his abundant time by indulging his other passion - sado-masochistic sex. But after his lover is accidentally shot, Walter begins to spiral hilariously out of control.