Lola

Lola
Directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Written by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Pia Frohlich and Peter Märthesheimer
1981/West Germany
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/Criterion Channel

 

Lola: A whore is something for sale, like that Ming thing there. Except you can touch them, and they’re not so rare.

Fassbinder’s scathing critique of capitalism in the “New Germany” is also a feast for the eyes.

The year is 1957.  Lola (Barbara Sukowa) is a singer/prostitute and a favorite at the brothel she works at.  She is being kept by a wealthy and thoroughly corrupt building contractor, Schuckert.  As the movie begins, Lola is thinking she does not get nearly the respect she deserves. Simultaneously, a new building commissioner is coming to town.  Van Bohm (Armin Mueller-Stahl) is a kindly, traditional, strait-laced man with a vision of building apartments for the community.

At first, von Bohm is enthusiastic about Schuckert’s proposal.  Schuckert is enthusiastic because he can milk millions out of the community.  The community fathers are as corrupt as he is.  When Schuckert tells Lola Von Bohm is too good for her, she accepts the challenge.  Before too long, Lola figures out how she can play the two men against each other and come out on top.

This film is Fassbinder’s take on The Blue Angel (1930).   He adds brilliant color to the story as well as a lot of wit.  The acting is fantastic and so is the script and filmmaking.  Recommended.

No trailer with subtitles

Too obvious but the only possible missing theme song