Veronika Voss (1982)

Veronika Voss (Die Sehnsucht der Veronika Voss/The Secret of Veronika Voss)
Directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Written by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Pea Frolich, and Peter Marthesheimer
1982/West Germany
IMDb page
First viewing/Criterion Channel

Robert Krohn: Movies are not reality, of course.

Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s take on Sunset Blvd. (1950) was the last film released before his death at age 37 and one of his best.

The setting is 1955 Munich.  Veronika Voss (Rosel Zech) was a star at UFA during the Nazi regime.  Since then, she has faded from view due to a combination of aging and drug addiction.  One evening she meets sportswriter Robert Krohn (Hilmar Thate) while she is breaking down in a park in the pouring rain.  He offers her an umbrella and rides home with her on a bus.

Although he has a live-in girlfriend and is younger than she, Vernonika easily seduces him and takes him for 300 marks.

Robert becomes fascinated with her and snoops into her personal life.  He finds that she spends most of the time in the home of a “nerve doctor” who specializes in supplying morphine to addicts.  The motives of the doctor are strictly financial.  We follow Veronika’s sad life story to its end.

This film combines excellent acting, innovative directing, and beautiful B&W imagery. It is based on the true story of Sybille Schmitz, also a famous UFA actress who fell on hard times. Fassbinder himself died of a drug overdose and I’m thinking it was partially autobiographical as well. I’m so sorry the director will no longer be part of my journey through film. He completed 44 projects between 1966 and 1982. Highly recommended.