The Merchant of Four Seasons DVD with Hark Bohm, Ingrid Caven, Peter Chatel (NR) +Movie Reviews

Deeply moving film & superb DVD "Masterworks Edition"

J. Clark | metro New York City | 08/07/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"MERCHANT OF FOUR SEASONS is the deeply moving tale of a German fruit-peddler searching for love and meaning in his life. Not only was this Fassbinder's first major commercial success, it is also one of his best films, and marks a crucial turning point in his career. Stylistically it both looks back to his earlier, more abstract "theatrical" films (like KATZELMACHER), and ahead to his unique melodramas (MARRIAGE OF MARIA BRAUN). MERCHANT is an ideal film to begin exploring - or re-exploring - Fassbinder. Wellspring Media has created a superb "Masterworks Edition" DVD of the film, made from a gorgeously-restored print, with your choice of hearing either a new Dolby 5.1 soundtrack (which I recommend) or the original stereo. They also include two full-length documentaries about Fassbinder: Juliane Lorenz's 90-minute "Life, Love & Celluloid," a fascinating look at Fassbinder's legacy (featuring no film clips but staged scenes, in English, from his plays, plus many revealing interviews); and Alessandro Colizzi's "The Many Women of Fassbinder," which offers a good overview of Fassbinder's career - featuring extensive film clips - while deconstructing the myth of Fassbinder's "misogyny." There is also an insightful and entertaining optional full-length commentary track by Fassbinder's friend Wim Wenders (director of WINGS OF DESIRE, and co-founder with Fassbinder, Werner Herzog, and others, of the influential 1970s New German Cinema movement), and much more. This is an exceptional DVD release of a great film."

ASTOUNDING WORK FROM THE GREATEST

M. J. Holmes | Santa Ana, CA USA | 10/19/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"filmmaker of the German New Wave,Merchant of Four Seasons is a truly heartbreaking film about thesorrows of a misspent life, conducted in a beautifully joyous manner.Hirschmuller, and especially(as usual) the actresses, Irm Hermann and Hanna Schygulla, are stunning .One of Master Fassbinder's most quietly powerful films, a study in how a great character study is to be done."

Rainer Werner Fassbinder--Remember the Man and his Films

Dr Victor S Alpher | Austin, Texas, U.S.A. | 05/05/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This could be a good introduction to the terse, emotionally-layered films of Fassbinder, who is becoming recognized as having had a great impact during his short 37 years (deceased in 1982). His films focus on human themes that transcend era or epoch. Here we find a fruit-peddler, who, although seemingly doomed in his early forays into the world and cursed by his mother, continues to work to find meaning in his relationships with women, men, and the world of commerce. Yet, this well-meaning man sinks further into despair and depression, as life goes on. A poignant tale that is timeless, and as visionary today as it was the day it was released. Very highly recommended!"

The Prince of Pain

khense | Los Angeles, CA | 07/14/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Fassbinder is the Prince of Pain. In "Merchant,"baby-faced Hans grew up with a cruel mother & driven-to-success siblings. Hans joined the foreign legion to prove himself-but got the greatest defeat of his life. Hans struggles to sell fruit in apartment courtyards (a dying trade). To sum it up: In battle, so called buddies could have helped more. In life, his wife could have helped more. In a unique Fassbinder ending both comic & melancholy,Hans loses interest in life, then ironically a woman he loves(now married)offers up a quickie (too little too late)."

Fassbinder's poignant Fruit Merchant.

G. Merritt | Boulder, CO | 11/29/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Fassbinder made three of his best films in the early 1970s: The Merchant of the Four Seasons (1971) (Händler der vier Jahreszeiten), The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (1972) (Die Bitteren Tränen der Petra von Kant), and Ali - Fear Eats the Soul (1974) (Angst essen Seele auf), for which he won the International Critics Prize at Cannes in 1974. In his insightful review of Fassbinder's films, "Straight from the Heart," Tony Pipolo notes that during this time, Fassbinder was discovering that however small his characters may be, and however insignificant their emotions may seem, they could be big on the movie screen. In the pivotal Merchant of the Four Seasons, Fassbinder paints a poignant portrait of a fruit merchant (Hans Hirschmüller) in 1950s Germany. There is profound sadness in this film. After returning from the French Foreign Legion, Hans Epp is fired from the police force for crossing the line with a beautiful prostitute, before peddling his produce from a pushcart. Hans is not only rejected by his lover (Ingrid Caven), his unfaithful wife (Irm Hermann), and his berating mother (Gusti Kreissl) for selling pears and plums, but by his judgmental, bourgeois family. As a result, he makes a slow downward spiral into depression and alcohol. Hans is an empathetic brute. He beats his wife and ignores his daughter. He is portrayed as a lost soul, and the portrayal is compelling. We watch as his day-to-day existence drains the life out of him. He loses interest in sex. "I go for walks a lot and think," he says. "Maybe I think too much." Much like Fox and His Friends, The Merchant of Four Seasons offers Fassbinder's critique of a cruel German society that crushes the human spirit with its false pretenses. Watch for a brief cameo appearance by Fassbinder playing Hans' dining pal, Zucker. This is one of my favorite Fassbinder films. Highly recommended.

G. Merritt"

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