Fontane - Effi Briest
- Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
- Writer: Rainer Werner Fassbinder; Theodor Fontane
- Producer: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
CGiii Comment
Every transition is a white-out.
Every scene is mindnumbingly static.
The mis-en-scene is as engaging as that of a Victorian photographer.
The tedious pace, the stark interest in the characters...the whole thing will send you to sleep.
Trailer...
The(ir) Blurb...
In the nineteenth century, seventeen year old Effi Briest is married to the older Baron von Instetten and moves into a house, that she believes has a ghost, in a small isolated Baltic town. She soon bears a daughter, Annie, and hires the lapsed Catholic Roswitha to look after her. Effi is lonely when her husband is away on business, so she spends time riding and walking along the shore with Major Crampas. Instetten is promoted to Ministerial Councillor and the family moves to Berlin, where Effi enjoys the social life. Six years later, the Baron is given letters from Crampas to Effi that convince him that they had an affair. He feels obliged to challenge Crampas to a duel and banish Effi from the house.
Cast & Characters
Hanna Schygulla as Effi Briest / von Instetten;
Wolfgang Schenck as Baron Geert von Instetten;
Ulli Lommel as Major Crampas;
Lilo Pempeit as Louise Briest, Mutter;
Herbert Steinmetz as Herr Briest, Vater;
Ursula Stratz as Roswitha, Kindermadchen;
Irm Hermann as Johanna, Haushalterin;
Karlheinz Bohm as Geheimrat Wullersdorf;
Karl Scheydt as Kruse;
Barbara Lass as Polnische Kochin;
Rudolf Lenz as Geheimrat Rummschuttel;
Andrea Schober as Annie von Instetten, Tochter;
Eva Mattes as Hulda;
Theo Tecklenburg as Pastor Niemeyer;
An Dorthe Braker as Frau Pasche