Martha
West Germany • 1974
Director
Synopsis
One of Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s first forays into the classic melodrama style of his hero Douglas Sirk is a brilliantly perverse, operatically stylized portrait of a woman (Margit Carstensen) caught in a strange, sadomasochistic relationship with a monstrous husband (Karlheinz Böhm), whom she begins to suspect may be trying to murder her. Loosely based on a story by pulp-fiction master Cornell Woolrich, MARTHA finds Fassbinder tearing the institution of marriage to shreds with savage, subversive glee.
Synopsis
One of Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s first forays into the classic melodrama style of his hero Douglas Sirk is a brilliantly perverse, operatically stylized portrait of a woman (Margit Carstensen) caught in a strange, sadomasochistic relationship with a monstrous husband (Karlheinz Böhm), whom she begins to suspect may be trying to murder her. Loosely based on a story by pulp-fiction master Cornell Woolrich, MARTHA finds Fassbinder tearing the institution of marriage to shreds with savage, subversive glee.
Credits
Crew
DirectorRainer Werner Fassbinder
WriterRainer Werner Fassbinder
CinematographerMichael Ballhaus
EditorLiesgret Schmitt-Klink
ProducerPeter Märthesheimer
Cast
Margit Carstensenas Martha
Karlheinz Böhmas Helmut
Barbara Valentinas Marianne
Peter Chatelas Kaiser
Gisela Fackeldeyas Mother Heyer