Fassbinder: Irrelevant?

Almost all of the RWF films I saw in the past were shown in the Goethe Institute in Tokyo.The man has become part of the cultural establishment in a way.But then again can't say it is all a bad thing for I may not be able to see any of his film but"The marriage of Maria Braun" without the help of German cultural diplomacy.

Isn't this the case in all countries, where past greats are hardly recognized? Thomas Koebner seems like a hater. How can he critize Fassbinder's use of mannerism and melodrama? Does he not realize that one of Fassbinder's main influences was Sirk? As a director of a film institute, Koebner is overrated.

for a more positive note:
filmdirector Edwin Brienen wrote this on his MySpace blog to commemorate Fasbinder's death 25 years ago:

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=59340253&blogID=274535699&MyToken=11783f82-f9be-4590-a953-87cf3a1c7d0f

RWF

Today, 25 years ago, Rainer Werner Fassbinder died.

It was mid eighties, I was 13 or 14 years old, heavily depressed, desperately trying to escape the nightmare suburbs of my prepostorous childhood. I already discovered bands like The Smiths, Swans, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Coil and Foetus. These artists gave expression to my inner feelings, the confusion that was burning deep inside of me. Smells like Teen Angst!

Next to music, film was another important element in life. As a child of the '80's, living in the censorship-free Netherlands, I grew up with so-called video nasties, exploitation and other pornographic flicks: Ilsa - She Woman of the SS, Cannibal Holocaust, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, lots of porn etc.

One night, I was watching TV and there it was: 'Querelle', the last Fassbinder film before his death, June 10th, 1982. I was immediately caught by the haunting, artificial images, the inner struggling of the main character as portrayed by Brad Davis, the heavy, emotional undertones of the story based on Genet. It was kind of ehh... recognizable. For the first time, I understood the power of cinema. How film can be used to create emotions, to make political statements, to tell something about life. And I wanted to become a film director.

'Querelle' has a special place in my heart, although it's for sure one of Fassbinder's weakest films. My favorites: In a Year with 13 Moons, The Marriage of Maria Braun, The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant, Veronika Voss, Satan's Brew, Why Does Herr R. Run Amok?, The Third Generation and so on, and so on.

Fassbinder, an almost forgotten genius. But in my opinion, the most important film director ever. May his work inspire many others! Cheers.

This sounds like mostly sour grapes from people with too much media space to fill. Yes, it's easy to say that students are likely to be less familiar with the New German Cinema classics of 30 years ago than they are with current films. That's the way distribution works. Doesn't the fact that the German media felt the need to commemorate the anniversary of RWF's death - even with stories like this - speak for itself?

Beavis, thanks for calling our attention to Edwin Brienen's tribute, which I hadn't read before.

Robert -- we are talking here not only about the general moviegoing public, but about film students who presumably have been exposed to a good number of these directors' works; festival-goers whose enthousiasm extends beyond that of mainstream cinema; the re-evaluation of some of the leaders of the "New German Cinema" by film scholars whose business is Germany's film heritage; and the impact these directors have had on contemporary filmmakers from around the world. Anniversaries and retrospectives provide us with an opportunity for the serious discussion of these issues and allow a younger generation to become acquainted with their films.