The legacy of German filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder
July 19, 2016
"The beginning of his filmmaking in 1969 and 1970 was like a cinematic supernova, unlike anything that had been seen before," writes Lothar Schirmer, describing Rainer Werner Fassbinder's role in film history.
Schirmer, co-editor with Julian Lorenz of the Fassbinder Foundation of a new picture book on the filmmaker, depicts in the preface Fassbinder's outstanding career. Early on, the renowned filmmaker was rejected by film schools and learned the art on his own.
In the new book, titled "R.W. Fassbinder, 1966 - 1983," Lorenz touches not only on Fassbinder's biography, but also on the aftereffects of his works and the efforts of the Fassbinder Foundation to secure his films for posterity - not an easy task in the digital age.
Laurence Kardish, long-time film curator at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, also contributed a text in the book, which points out how significant Fassbinder is today in the US. Kardish says he's had a tremendous influence on film experts, museum curators, young filmmakers and also respected directors such as Richard Linklater, Todd Haynes and Quentin Tarantino.
Tarantino's recent film, "Django Unchanged," may have been a nod to Fassbinder's Western "Whity" from 1970.
The book presents 1,368 film stills and 46 photos from Fassbinder's life and oeuvre, presenting a comprehensive overview of the filmmaker's universe. Click through the gallery above for a closer look.