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The Merchant of Four Seasons, 1972
Returning home from a time in the military, Hans (Hans Hirschmuller) finds his relationship with his wife, Irmgard (Irm Hermann) and family altered. Hans tries to make a living as a fruit vendor, but an untimely medical emergency leaves him dependent on others.
I don't know if many people have seen the film Deathdream, about a soldier who returns from Vietnam but things are very, very wrong. In fact, it becomes clear really quickly (so quickly I don't consider it a spoiler, but, um, SPOILER WARNING, I guess) that he is dead. There's a line in another film (I am blanking on the name, but something thriller-ish?) where one character tells another, "You're dead. You just don't know it yet."
These two films/lines kept rattling around in my head while watching Merchant of Four Seasons. Hans has, in many ways, lost his life. And yet he is still in it. But as we watch, all of the trappings of his presence and reality begin to fall away. His family thinks poorly of him. His wife is enamored with other men. His business is being run by someone else. And all of the coping strategies he uses---to use the term very loosely--only serve to further alienate himself from his own life.
I did appreciate some of the humor in the film, and specifically just how dramatic many of the characters were. Irmgard is perpetually upset, and often tearful. In one scene, Hans' family protectively encircles her like a herd of startled cattle. And Hans himself also skews toward the dramatic in his own way, albeit more explosive.
Overall I enjoyed the film, which felt like some bizarre mix of comedy, drama, and a little bit of horror. Many of Fassbinder's frequent collaborators make appearances, including El Hedi ben Salem, who shows up for a memory sequence containing a fetishized sequence of whipping (because of course he does).
I actually felt that the film's strongest point was that final sequence (despite me poking a bit of fun at it), because we really get a window into Hans' mental state.
The Merchant of Four Seasons, 1972
Returning home from a time in the military, Hans (Hans Hirschmuller) finds his relationship with his wife, Irmgard (Irm Hermann) and family altered. Hans tries to make a living as a fruit vendor, but an untimely medical emergency leaves him dependent on others.
I don't know if many people have seen the film Deathdream, about a soldier who returns from Vietnam but things are very, very wrong. In fact, it becomes clear really quickly (so quickly I don't consider it a spoiler, but, um, SPOILER WARNING, I guess) that he is dead. There's a line in another film (I am blanking on the name, but something thriller-ish?) where one character tells another, "You're dead. You just don't know it yet."
These two films/lines kept rattling around in my head while watching Merchant of Four Seasons. Hans has, in many ways, lost his life. And yet he is still in it. But as we watch, all of the trappings of his presence and reality begin to fall away. His family thinks poorly of him. His wife is enamored with other men. His business is being run by someone else. And all of the coping strategies he uses---to use the term very loosely--only serve to further alienate himself from his own life.
I did appreciate some of the humor in the film, and specifically just how dramatic many of the characters were. Irmgard is perpetually upset, and often tearful. In one scene, Hans' family protectively encircles her like a herd of startled cattle. And Hans himself also skews toward the dramatic in his own way, albeit more explosive.
Overall I enjoyed the film, which felt like some bizarre mix of comedy, drama, and a little bit of horror. Many of Fassbinder's frequent collaborators make appearances, including El Hedi ben Salem, who shows up for a memory sequence containing a fetishized sequence of whipping (because of course he does).
I actually felt that the film's strongest point was that final sequence (despite me poking a bit of fun at it), because we really get a window into Hans' mental state.