Lili Marlene

Even though Lili Marleen's events take place right before, during and up to the end of World War II, it is a movie centered around people and their feelings in typical Fassbinder fashion.

It is the story of Willie (played by the stunning Hanna Schygulla) and with her the story of Nazi Germany that follows a similar trajectory. She is a German that tries to make a living in Zurich as a singer/cabaret artist and falls in love with Robert (Giancarlo Giannini), a Jew and member of the anti-Nazi resistance camp. His family doesn't approve of their relationship, because she is German/Aryan and make sure they go their separate ways after her deportation. Back in Germany, she must find a way to survive and, seemingly out of nowhere, her song "Lili Marleen" becomes a monumental hit, a source of inspiration and courage for every German soldier, which brings Willie in a tricky spot, as it becomes harder and harder to maintain the balance between collaborating with the Nazis in an artistic level and taking part in the resistance against them all the while hoping for a reunion with Robert which seems more and more unlikely.

An interesting element of the movie is that it presents both sides in a nuanced way, it avoids portraying the Nazis as the one-dimensional caricature villains. It also shows how thin the lines are and how hard it can be to fight prejudice and shake off a social or political stigma.

And of course the song itself deserves its legendary status.

Rainer Werner Fassbinder is an important (or maybe the most important) director of the "Neue Deutsche Welle" of the seventies and eighties.

Until now I had seen only one of his films ("Angst essen Seele auf", 1974), preferring another director of the "Neue Deutsche Welle" (Werner Herzog) instead.

Also with other filmmovements I often prefer another director above the leading figure. With the French "Nouvelle vague" for example I prefer Claude Chabrol above Jean Luc Godard.

Nevertheless only one film of such an important director felt as too little to me and I decided to watch some more if the opportunity arose.

The first opportunity was "Lili Marleen" (1981) and maybe this was not the best oppurtunity. "Lily Marleen" is from the later stages of Fassbinder's career. He was already a renowned director and for this production had the disposal over a big budget. His aim was a film that would also perform well at the American box office. The film was recorded in English but later dubbed in German when the American success failed to materialize.

The story is about the female singer Willie (Hanna Schygulla) who is very successful in Nazi circles, being with the resistance in her private life. As such the story has similarities with "Black book" (2006, Paul Verhoeven).

The song Willie has success with is "Lili Marleen", which was a real existing song during the Second World War performed by Lale Andersen. Also Marlene Dietrich would occasionaly perform this song.

In my opinion "Lili Marleen" is a rather conventional movie according to Fassbinder standards (or at least as I expect Fassbinder standards to be). The most striking scenes are those in which Willie is performing her song. These scenes are edited with both images of soldiers resting in their trenches and very brutal war violence. These scenes are however more theatrical than shocking.

Rainer Werner Fassbinder always made movies as if he knew his was on borrowed time. Many of the 44 films made by him in his 16-year career represent searches, experiments, attempts to express himself as an artist in the most diverse cinematic ways. 'Lili Marleen', made in 1981, the penultimate year of his life, belongs to a cluster of several films that are apparently less radical than most of the others and closer to mainstream cinema. After the success of some of his movies in previous years, Fassbinder was able to secure financing for more expensive productions with international casts and many extras. He chooses to make 'Lili Marleen', a story woven around the famous song that sounded in the trenches of the Second World War, both German and Allied (one of the famous versions belongs to Marlene Dietrich) and somewhat inspired by the autobiographical book of Lale Andersen, the German singer who first recorded the song on disc. Apparently, it is a melodrama that improbably embellishes her biography. In fact, we also find in this film the story of a woman who has to face alone the dark forces of the surrounding society combined with Fassbinder's sarcastic vision of the history of 20th century Germany.

The film's lead character, Willie, is a blonde, Aryan, German singer who doesn't seem to know or care much about what's going on in Germany in 1938. She performs in a cabaret in Zurich and falls in love with Robert, a wealthy young Jew, whose family is involved in the anti-Nazi resistance fight and in the rescue of the remaining Jews in Germany. Willie's father opposes the relationship and maneuvers so that the young woman cannot return to Switzerland after a trip to Germany. Forced to earn a living in Nazi Germany, Willie records the song 'Lili Marleen', which after the outbreak of war and the occupation of much of Europe and North Africa by the Nazis becomes a hit listened to by German soldiers and later by the Allies when they will disembark in Europe. The relationship between Willie and Robert continues, and the singer, forced to make artistic compromises and collaborate with the Nazis, begins to open her eyes and get involved in the fight against Nazism.

As in many of Fassbinder's films, the female characters are much stronger, more nuanced and better defined than the male characters. The lead role is interpreted by the exceptional Hanna Schygulla, Fassbinder's favorite actress. Her Willie is carefree at first, eager to live her life, a fighter for survival using her art and feminine charms as weapons. Above all, however, she is in love, but times of war crush destinies and love stories. Robert and his father are ambiguous characters and Fassbinder has been criticized for this, but also for nuancing the characters on the other side of the conflict, the Nazi officers. My opinion is that artistically the choice was appropriate, and the film must be seen from the director's sarcastic perspective, fascinated but also critical of the anti-cultural kitsch of 20th century Germany. As in many of his other films, Fassbinder also appears in a cameo role, as head of the anti-Nazi resistance, perhaps also to emphasize his personal position. 'Lili Marleen' is a film less appreciated by critics and Fassbinder experts. I consider it among his best films.

The story of a song in Nazi Germany.. a fiction piece masterly created by Fassbinder. Whilst a stimulating watch, it feels editing could have been tighter at times. Afterwards you can not get the song 'Lili Marleen' out of y head. Best to watch the German version instead of the dubbed English one.

Jolly good show eld chap - bit of a must see if you like that eld song... I don't know what the makers of this film were thinking, but it was obviously something along the lines of "Dash it all! We appear to got ourselves into a spot of bother here! Too many of the chaps and gels have accents which aren't quite up to par! Well, not to fear - technology to the rescue! I'll just call up the chaps at the club and get them to lend their distinguished Queens English voices to making this film a ripping english yarn about a German singer and a Swiss Jewish music artist..."

Well, the dubbing of an obviously English film with 'upper crust' English accents had me rolling in the aisles, snorting with laughter at some points throughout the film - it all rather distracted from what was really a very good film. Although the editing was a bit choppy in places (1970's relict directing?), the film faily trundles along providing a genteel look at the distractions and hardships WWII had on life in Europe. True, towards the end, one can sympathise with Giancarlo Giannini's 'torture' scene where the Germans lock him up in a room to listen to a couple of lines from the song, 'Lili Marleen' over and over again... How much was Giannini acting and how much was genuine suffering??? But, if you can overlook the dreadful dubbing, this is a good film!