My review of The Marriage of Maria Braun at the BAM Next Wave Festival is available for reading on CultureVulture.net.
“Perhaps taking a page from Flemish director Ivo van Hove…Thomas Ostermeier has stripped the Fassbinder film down to its essential narrative and staged it with five actors on a set full of mismatched armchairs and tables that looks vaguely like a hotel lobby or airport lounge….Ultimately, the piece seemed dry, visually drab, and perversely stingy. I think I’m most grateful to the production for encouraging me to go back and look at Fassbinder’s film on DVD, which also includes fascinating commentary by fellow director Wim Wenders and cinematographer Michael Ballhaus as well as a 2003 interview with Hannah Schygulla.”
You can read the whole review online here.
another eye opens 