The 1979 film, The Marriage of Maria Braun (Fassbinder) is about the social climb one woman has after learning her husband was killed in the war. Taking place in Germany, her husband returns after she has already started a relationship with another man. The two men struggle and Maria kills the second and her husband takes responsibility for his wife’s actions, imprisoning him for several years. During that time, Maria works to make money so that when her husband is released they will have a place to start a family. She is able to do this by manipulating a rich man into hiring and falling in love with her. In the end, Maria is united with her husband who disappeared upon his release, only for the two of them to die in a slightly comical fire caused by Maria’s alcohol problem she developed with her success.
This film demonstrates what Germany was like after the war. According to an article I read, Maria’s decline in moral values in an attempt to gain material goods mirrors Germany’s decline in morals in order to rebuild the country and the “economic miracle” that took place in Germany after the war.
One other characteristic I found interesting was the fact that this story is told from a woman’s perspective. It provoked an inner debate with myself as to whether I thought her actions were liberating or immoral. We’ve seen many films where men have “triumphed” in the same way but do not receive the same reaction from an audience. Seeing a woman do the same thing almost strikes a bias regarding expectations from women.
http://www2.mcdaniel.edu/German/German1111/holer/Maria/maria.htm
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Ah hah! Great point, Jen- I found myself fighting the same battle. Maria Braun had complete control. She embraced a masculine quality seen in a lot of the other films we have watched in the sense that she is never just satisfied and steadily reaches for that 'more' in her life. Because of this, she may have been seen as a 'bitch' for her motives because she was a woman with power and manipulative tactics.
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