Martha
by Rainer Werner Fassbinder
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Barbara Valentin, Gisela Fackeldey, Karlheinz B?hm, Margit Carstensen, Peter ChatelDirector: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: German (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled)
Format: Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 115 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-04-13
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Fantoma
Movie Reviews of Martha
Movie Review: A pitch black Hitchcock...
Summary: 4 Stars
There comes a point in `Martha', actually, a scene that is depicted on the cover of the DVD, when Martha is sitting back to back with the monstrosity she calls a husband; and it is in that scene that the film comes together and makes the loudest most definitive statement possible. My only regret is that the credits did not start to roll at that exact point, for if they had I would be tempted to say it was one of the best films of that given year, and possibly of all time. Instead, `Martha' continues on for a bit longer and steeps further into madness. It's not that the film goes sour, it's just that it makes a drastically different point and I much preferred the point I initially thought was being made.
The film starts with Martha and her father on vacation. Martha's father suddenly dies and Martha finds upon her return home a mother cold and bitter and accusatory.
This is all Martha's fault.
Despite her mother's coldness, Martha decides to decline the marriage proposal of her employer in order to stay and take care of her mother. As time progresses though she realizes that her mother will only destroy her, and so when the mysterious Helmut proposes she accepts, only to soon realize that this sadistic man is going to do more damage than she can imagine.
The film progresses beautifully, lingering long enough to fester in our minds and give us chills. This is the first film I've seen by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, but it will not be the last. He has a rather remarkable way of creating a mood and sustaining it. He's like a more brutal version of Alfred Hitchcock. He captures the madness within his characters; the oppressors and the victims, and embellishes it masterfully. What he does with not only Martha's character but also Helmut's is profound and startling to say the least.
I think that is why the films freefall into extreme insanity kind of put me off a bit. As the film exposes the relationship between Martha and Helmut it rings through with a truth found in abusive relationships. Helmut is conniving and controlling and ruthless and manipulative, and so he knows how to convince Martha that he is loving and merely misunderstood. When Martha tries to explain to her friend her husband's faults she cannot because she doesn't understand that they are truly wrong. So, despite all of her husband's horrid traits and violent actions she stays with him, welcomes him, changes for him (listening to his music, reading his books, staying secluded in his home). So, when she sits back to back with him and recites like a trained animal the exact words to the textbook he demanded she read it is a very fitting and heartbreaking conclusion to the film.
But the film doesn't end there. I won't expose how the film actually ends, but I will say that I only wish it had ended right there. It would have been flawless. This isn't to say that the film is bad or that the ending `ruined' it. The film is still very, very good and it makes a very loud and very gruesome statement; but I am saying that it would have been perfect had it ended in the right place.
The acting is superb, especially on the part of Margit Carstensen, who manages to give the appropriate touches to Martha's hysterics. When she screams at the sight of Helmut, no matter how over the top it may appear, it feels genuine and very fitting when considering her mental state. Despite my feelings on the chosen ending I must admit that the script is very tightly written and Fassbinder's direction only aids the film in reaching all the right places of disturbia. If you like Hitchcock and want to see what a little more edge and darkness would have done for his style then this is a film you do well to see.
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