There’s a smidgen of satire in the opening of The Marriage of Maria Braun, as the title character is in the midst of the title event. Maria, and her groom, Hermann, are for a second seemingly unperturbed, as their civil office wedding is interrupted by an air raid. And the newly-weds, as well as others, have to flee the chaotic, freshly yielded war debris.
Ill-fated director, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, is not laughing at war. He is hardly pointing the finger either. The tone for the most part juxtaposes the multi-faceted, cunning grin of Maria Braun’s personality. And thus her journey ahead.
A film that might even be about post-war West Germany than anything else. But at the center of it there is no doubt of the illuminating presence of our surrogate heroine. Even in the mist of cultural gloom and rebuilding. And through the glistening eyes of Maria, the meticulous, mischievous direction of Fassbinder, and an all-embracing lead performance from Hanna Schygulla, we are placed in the aftermath, rather than merely invited.
The actress captures the national bewilderment and change of fortunes in her reactions. The glances, or turn of the eyes, her forthright posture. But also commands attention in her voice and actions, both determined and wily throughout.
“A film that might even be about post-war West Germany than anything else.”
That opening of off-screen bombings, in some ways dictates how the film will travel on and conclude. Offers insight into several motifs depicting such a forlorn West Germany – kids startling adults with firecrackers; Maria blowing out a match before a cigarette is lit; balls of light on candle tips that hardly flicker at all. Fassbinder, too, throws the end titles at us immediately as the shocking finale hits.
The film’s remarkable decor is on point, too. Camera drifts slowly around broken walls and open doorways – often framing characters placed outdoors from inside, and vice versa. As though the war-torn locations merge into one, regardless of the ins and the outs.
Meanwhile, the camera glances around like the turn of a head, still trying to fathom the decay around us. And I say ‘us’ again as we are now very much part of this, given, as a spectator. Fassbinder and cinematographer, the formidable Michael Ballhaus, partially light Maria’s face in much of the darkened interior scenes. Often emerging from or blending into the shadows. Schygulla is certainly equipped with all the vivacious qualities of a movie starlet – whether such a status was commonplace, or indeed important, in the late 1970s West Germany.
Later, Maria declares herself an expert on the future, and is confident her time will come, after overcoming several obstacles. As radiant as Maria is, with her powers of seduction just an eye-roll away, she is a steely businesswoman over a poster pin-up girl. A level-headed, straight-talking woman, shimmering some much-needed sense into the man’s world.
“Schygulla is certainly equipped with all the vivacious qualities of a movie starlet.”
When Maria buys a dress, following her husband’s departure to the war front, she tells the dodgy vendor it is for business. As no matter how or what Maria functions in this brittle society hereafter, that is exactly what she means – business. The applying of make-up and hemming of a dress is all a sartorial translation of a woman not wasting any time reconstructing her own identity.
Maria doesn’t so much brag about her audacity, neither does she pause to see the need in breaking social conventions. So when she locks onto a black soldier eyeing her up (respectfully I might add), she takes a second to compose herself and asks him to dance. Their stroll through woodlands as he teaches her some more English is as pleasingly romantic as such a clouded time can offer. In a rare moment of open despair further on, Maria asks him to dance again later, but its a shoulder to cry on she is craving.
One of seldom intimate moments, a scene where they lay post-coital, hands stroking skin covered in beads of sweat, demonstrates a companionship that transcends race. It need not even be mentioned. And such tender moments can also be playful, teasing each other while undressing. Though one such scene sees a familiar face from Maria’s recent past divert proceedings to a fatal blow.
It is one which, perhaps for the first time, challenges our perceptions of Maria’s loyalties or temperament. And in turn, the unselfish actions of her returning husband liberates Maria further. When she visits him in prison, there’s still time for humorous banter between them. Maybe they’re not strangers after all.
In the final act, by the time her husband returns to her again, it is as though they have to start afresh. They semi-play-act defining their contract, and there’s a reality to this unification after all that has passed. By the end, Maria has seemingly lost a bit of self-control. When she finds herself crying, she is as surprised as anyone. The cracks are showing.
“There was nobody quite like Fassbinder during the 1970s and 80s putting such multi-dimensional woman on the screen.”
By now, Maria alienates those around her, and becomes more hostile. At one point sarcastically declaring that she is possessed by the devil. These glimpses are of her possibly losing her mind a little towards the end – especially when the change of clothes might now signify indecision and a partial loss of identity.
The character arc of Maria Braun is a fascinating one, for sure. And there was nobody quite like Fassbinder during the 1970s and 80s putting such multi-dimensional woman on the screen. The Marriage of Maria Braun was the first of an essential BRD trilogy by the filmmaker that proved this (yes, Lola and Veronika Voss are both on your watchlist too). Fassbinder was a master of seamless mood shifts, be it fragility or fraternity, both in his fully-formed characters and the stature of his country.
That Maria sleeps with men as a means to keep a firmer grasp of her own growth, does not make her a whore. There is clearly a fondness for these two men for Maria, unabashed and without cruel intent. But she is not about to let affections outstay her ambition – she even says at one point with the current climate that it is not a good time for feelings, and that it suits her.
Its impressive to see Maria tell one beau that he has no claim on her, to follow with it with a warm smile. Maria might be the kind of person to beat you at an enduring game of chess, but she’ll make you feel that it is perfectly okay to lose. Fassbinder and Schygulla so compellingly give Maria Braun a crafty demeanor that is pretty irresistible.
“With Maria, her resourceful exuberance comes not from an illness, but a innate longing for independence and power.”
Traveling first class on a train, Maria comments abruptly that she never does that. Times are not easy, the conductor responds. Maria is forceful, not subtle, but somehow polite in such interactions.
The drunk, crude soldier who boards the train, gets more than he bargains for when Maria shuts him down with some comicly translated English insults. As he stumbles to confront her, Maria is up on her feet, overbearing him with her presence and verbal empowerment. The soldier salutes her in defeat, wanting to keep his bloody old balls and prick attached to his body, and not have his bloody old son of a bitch self thrown in jail.
Fassbinder wants Maria to assert a sense of power over her counterparts. Neither parties are looking to make more enemies than required, but standing your ground is an integrity worth preserving. But in a changing country, that ball can’t always stay in your court.
As one man’s liver is packing in, only a couple of years of life left, he adorns a ‘live the adventure’ attitude. With Maria, who was his agreeable mistress for a while, her resourceful exuberance comes not from an illness, but a innate longing for independence and power. Just like West Germany after the war, of course. Maria Braun is not a perfect woman in her morals or outlook, but is the kind of human being to show us that you should be able to dance with who you like, we don’t know how that song is going to end. Maria, sadly, does not even quite know that for herself.
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