Irm Hermann

Great art is often held to be created by people who are not only great artists, but also great individuals. Conversely, artists are assumed to have great egos, and consequently may be expected to be difficult, yet they are often excused because misbehavior seems a small price to pay for their talent. The strange case of director Rainer Werner Fassbinder and a regular member of his acting company, Irm Hermann, confirms some of these beliefs, yet at the same time exposes them to be cliches. Fassbinder was surely a great artist, but he could be more than difficult; his temperament, fickleness and charisma led him to be very cruel as well. Under his guidance, Hermann appeared memorably in several key Fassbinder works and performed capably enough for others to suggest that she, too, possessed artistry, or at least eventually developed it. But it took some time before she developed anything that could be considered an ego, at least where Fassbinder was concerned. For Hermann's love for the director was such that no matter how badly he treated her, he could always bring her back. She, meanwhile, always believed in his feelings for her and, what is more, seemed to need his harsh handling to achieve the effects he elicited from her in his films. Her acting career was due largely to him, and their collaboration became a case of art imitating life. In cinema and in life, Hermann was Fassbinder's favorite doormat. She eventually found the strength to break free, but she never stopped loving him. She never kidded herself about his cruelty, but she never stopped supporting his greatness either.