The Merchant of Four Seasons

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peter w Post-war eras are never great for those trying to return to a society that has changed beyond recognition. This theme has been addressed by American directors like Oliver Stone (e.g. Born on the Fourth of July) who illustrate how broken soldiers can't fit into the society that awaited them post-Viet Nam. There is also the critique of families who projected their ambitions on the sent sons they sent to war but who abandon them on their return bearing the scars and trauma of the experience. Hans Epp expresses his unresolved trauma through aggression against his wife, child and his family when he returns with no financial or emotional resources to support him. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member My second film from this sad man. Hans sells fruit to make ends meet. He is a short, chubby guy with a long, skinny wife. She nags on him as he pour the earnings into drinks. He treats her bad, but after he suffers from a heart attack she just can't leave him. This does not change much, he is still in depression and everything seem pretty hopeless. Not the most joyful of films but said to be Fassbinders first true melodrama. The lack of love is present here and a pretty troubled man and his relationship steer this film. Solid performances, OK looks - with some easy moves and tricks. This film is not ment for entertainment, rather the oposite - it may put you in a bad mood. 7 out of 10 fresh pears. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/17/23 Full Review Audience Member Brutally delivered and non-linear in its narrative, The Merchant of Four Seasons is an early masterstroke from one of Germany's most important directors. Despite being set in early post-war Germany, The Merchant of Four Seasons is less a social commentary than other works of Rainer Werner Fassbinder's, and instead it concentrates on a more universal theme: the break down of the male psyche. The movie gives us an indelible character in Hans (quietly played by Hans Hirschmüller) a man who initially comes off as deplorable, but becomes unexpectedly more sympathetic as the film goes on. This was also one of Fassbinder's first films that showed his adherence to Douglas Sirk with his penchant for melodrama and unflattering depiction of domestic life, but he actually might be an even more nuanced then his forbear. Fassbinder really knows how to work a camera, with subtle and surprising movements that augment the drama, and his subdued use of music (where sometimes its played so loudly that a pin drop would ruin the mood) can't be matched by any of his peers. One of the director's most essential works. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/23/23 Full Review Audience Member Fassbinder stops experimenting and goes back to storytelling, and the film is all the better for it. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/01/23 Full Review Audience Member Fassbinder deceptively aims for "realism" when where he is really taking us is a world in which every aspect of the human condition is amplified beyond the realm of "reality" -- this creates for a profound and strangely effective commentary and examination of expectations and hopes relating to both the individual and "the bourgeois." Hans is a fairly unsuccessful fruit peddler who almost revels in his failure while his wife grows increasingly unhappy and unsatisfied. The same is true of his successful family. His has fully taken "ownership" of the way his family views him. Gradually our protagonist slips further and further into a state of rage-fueled anger to a full-fledged alcoholic. Hans' choice is disturbing, but also operates on a sort of metaphorical level. Whether it be due to his circumstances or some stronger power to which there is hint -- Hans is as much a victim of his own nihilism as the trap formed by the cultural in which he must live. It is a brutal and harsh examination of the human man oppressed. Devastating and unforgettable. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/22/23 Full Review Audience Member Rainer Werner Fassbinder breaks out into international waters with his mix of dark comedy and melodrama and stunning direction. Merchant of Four Seasons glows from his other films, while showcasing what Fassbinder was really capable of in the future of his films. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/04/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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