Effi Briest

Name: Effi Briest
Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Genre: History, Drama
Released: 1974-01-01
Duration: 141 min
Rating: 6.6
Cast: Hanna Schygulla, Wolfgang Schenck, Ulli Lommel, Herbert Steinmetz, Irm Hermann

1974Dir. Rainer Werner Fassbinder2h 21m

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About This Movie

Fassbinder’s 'Effi Briest' captures the suffocating atmosphere of societal expectations with such precision. The slow pacing really lets you sink into Effi’s life, a young girl suffocated by her marriage to an older man. The haunting Baltic setting is almost a character itself, adding to her isolation. The performances are solid, especially from Hanna Schygulla as Effi, who embodies youthful longing and despair. The themes of unfulfilled desires and the rigid structures of the 19th century German society really resonate. It’s interesting how Fassbinder uses subdued colors and cinematography to enhance that sense of entrapment. You definitely feel the weight of the story in every frame.

Released in 1974; original language GermanBased on Theodor Fontane's 1896 novelPart of Fassbinder's larger body of work on society's constraintsCinematography by Michael Ballhaus adds to the film's tone