“In
post-war Germany a young woman
whose father was killed during the
Second World War works at a high class
brothel frequented by city officials as
a high class prostitute and singer.
Unexpectedly she attracts the attention
of a newly-arrived ethical and
respectable gentleman who falls in love
with her and wants to marry her, little
realising what she does in Rainer Werner
Fassbinder’s 1981 drama Lola...” LOOSELY-BASED ON JOSEF VON STERNBERG'S THE BLUE ANGEL (1930)
and its source novel Professor Unrat by Heinrich Mann, Rainer Werner
Fassbinder's compelling 1981 film Lola has been recently restored and
now comes to home entertainment.
A fascinating and well-observed look at life in post-war Germany, Lola stars
Barbara Sukowa (Berlin Alexanderplatz; Romance and Cigarettes) as a young,
lovely, talented high class prostitute who plies her trade and sings at the
local brothel.
“Lola
is an intriguing,
entertaining,
compelling and well-
observed movie
that reflects the lives
of German citizens
after the
Second World War...”
With
a zest for life, Lola is the favourite of wealthy and influential property developer
Schuckert (Mario Adorf: The Tin Drum), who is hoping to get a new project
off the ground, and they have a child, Marie (Ulrike Vigo), but he does not
see Lola as his exclusive mistress. Both Lola and Schuckert benefit from their
liaison and both seem content with the way things are.
The mayor and Mr Timmerding (Karl-Heinz Von Hassel), the chief of Police also
use the brothel, although the mayor makes futile attempts at covering his appearance
there. Esslin (Matthias Fuchs) works for Schuckert during the day and is a drummer
for the band at the brothel during the evening. He is fond of Lola and appears
to be jealous of Schuckert.
Lola's daughter is being brought up by her mother, Frau Kummer (Karin Baal),
and when the expected new building inspector, Von Bohm (Armin Mueller-Stahl:
The Game; Angels & Demons), arrives, she goes to work for him as his housekeeper.
He is polite and kind and Marie takes to him immediately. With strong ethics,
he is very much a gentleman and Lola's mother would have him believe that Lola
is a singer.
Lola engineers a meeting with Von Bohm, as she has made a bet with Schuckert
that she can get him to kiss her hand, and he falls in love with her, unaware
that she is the feted star of the brothel. He is an upright, honest, energetic,
mature gentleman with a social-democratic outlook and even when he is steered
in the direction of the brothel, he only goes along reluctantly.
He is finally faced with the truth in a very brutal way but, once he has come
to terms with Lola's way of life, will he still want to marry her? And if he
does, will Lola be content to be a respectable wife?
All Von Bohm wants is Lola and all Schuckert wants is to be awarded a new building
contract as the city is developed in the aftermath of the war — and if
he can keep Lola, too, that would be fine by him. And Lola? Does she know what
she truly wants?
Set in a small West German town in 1957 where a booming economy is generating
a new sense of optimism, Lola marks the third part of Fassbinder's BRD
Trilogy alongside 1979's The Marriage of Maria Braun (BRD 1) and Veronika
Voss (BRD 2), released in 1982. The three-letter acronym BRD stands for
Bundesrepublik Deutschland, the official name of West Germany and of the united
contemporary Germany, and represents Fassbinder's attempt to create an overall
picture of West Germany at the time.
The notorious 'enfant terrible' of the German New Wave, Fassbinder won much
renown as a radical and innovative writer-director and has been hailed as post-war
Germany's greatest filmmaker, but he sadly died at just 37 years of age.
As prolific as he was controversial, Fassbinder is much admired by current American
Indie filmmakers such as Todd Haynes and Richard Linklater and is enjoying a
long overdue revival and reappraisal, thanks to a recent in-depth retrospective
from the BFI.
Lola is an intriguing, entertaining, compelling and well-observed movie
that reflects the lives of German citizens after the Second World War; looking
at their morals, ethics and double standards.
Lola also features: Helga Federsen in a sympathetic character role as
Faulein Hettich; Ivan Desny as Wittich; Elisabeth Volkmann as Gigi; Hark Bohm
as Völker; Rosel Zech as Frau Schuckert; Christine Kaufmann as Susi; Sonja Neudorfer
as Frau Fink; and Isolde Barth as Frau Völker.
Music is by Freddy Quinn and Peer Raben; Cinematography by Xaver Schwarzenberger;
Writers are: Pea Frölich, Peter Märthesheimer and R W Fassbinder; Producers
are: Wolf-Dietrich Brüker and Horst Wedlandt; Director is Rainer Werner Fassbinder.
*Lola
is released by STUDIOCANAL in the UK on DVD, Blu-ray and EST on 3 July 2017.
Certificate: 15 | Running Time: 113 Minutes | Year: 1981 | Extras: New Interview
with Barbara Sukowa | New Interview with Juliane Lorenz, Editor and Head of
the Fassbinder Foundation | Trailer.
"Lola is an intriguing, entertaining, compelling and well-observed movie
that reflects the lives of German citizens after the Second World War" —
Maggie Woods, MotorBar
“In
post-war Germany a young woman