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Effi Briest

2009 1h 52m Drama List
73% Tomatometer 11 Reviews 72% Audience Score 500+ Ratings
Tragedy follows when a baron's (Sebastian Koch) unhappy bride (Julia Jentsch) has a steamy affair with a dashing officer (Misel Maticevic). Read More Read Less

Critics Reviews

View All (11) Critics Reviews
Tony Rayns Time Out Filmed in black and white, with extraordinary delicacy and reserve, this is one of Fassbinder's best films. Jan 26, 2006 Full Review Vincent Canby New York Times It's visually beguiling -- its cameramen having found shades of gray between black and white I'm not sure I've seen before -- and it is performed by the Fassbinder stock company with the precision and style one seldom finds outside the legitimate theater. Rated: 4/5 May 20, 2003 Full Review Dave Kehr Chicago Reader The slow, deliberate pace is sometimes taxing, but this story of a 16-year-old girl locked in the boredom of a loveless marriage is perfectly suited to Fassbinder's stifling mise-en-scene. Jan 1, 2000 Full Review Andrew Parker The Gate The best collaboration between Fassbinder and frequent star Schygulla, who delivers a truly affecting turn in the title role. Aug 28, 2018 Full Review Clancy Sigel The Spectator It's so visually boring, insanely talkative, arrogantly formalistic. Aug 4, 2015 Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews Compelling viewing for the delicate way it unfolds and leaves a tingling feeling there's a lot more going on than it seems. Rated: A May 15, 2006 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Audience Member Young Effi Briest marries an older man and moves to a small town. It's not a particular happy marriage, and she forms a close friendship with an associate of her husband Major Crampus. Years later, after moving to Berlin, letters surface that lead her husband to believe that there was an illicit affair between them. A fairly deliberately confounding film, even for Fassbinder. It's told in a fairly oblique style with several key scenes happening off screen, and is interspersed with narration, on screen captions and a lot of novelistic devices. It's a long film that consists mainly of sets of characters talking in carefully arranged, static shots. Most of these conversations don't really drive the plot. That may sound like I disliked the film, but I was really quite taken with it. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/01/23 Full Review Audience Member Gave up half way through, definitely not one of Fassbinder's best works. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 02/01/23 Full Review Audience Member Beautifully shot, but it never seems to quite work as well as it should. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/29/23 Full Review Audience Member Une pure merveille de Fassbinder filme de main de maitre et avec une direction photo impressionnante -des noirs, blancs et gris comme ça je ne connaissait que Le Ruban Blanc. Voici un classique dont l'univers impitoyable se marie bien avec celui du realisateur. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/24/23 Full Review Audience Member Fassbinder directs this period piece with an impressive technical sophistication, something evident in the exquisite mise-en-scène and cinematography. And he finds in Fontane's criticism of society a perfect material to be adapted by him, although the result is a bit too long. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/14/23 Full Review Audience Member slow burning even for Fassbinder Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/15/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Effi Briest

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Effi Briest

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Movie Info

Synopsis Tragedy follows when a baron's (Sebastian Koch) unhappy bride (Julia Jentsch) has a steamy affair with a dashing officer (Misel Maticevic).
Director
Hermine Huntgeburth
Screenwriter
Volker Einrauch
Production Co
Constantin Film Produktion
Genre
Drama
Original Language
German
Runtime
1h 52m