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This is for me the weakest of the three films making up the BRD Trilogy. I don't think Fassbinder could have had much interest in retelling the Professor Unrat story that Von Sternberg had done fifty years before with Dietrich. The garish Technicolor tones and the feverish acting don't disguise a lack of involvement on the director's part.The actors do come out of this with distinction. Barbara Sukowa tears into her part with great gusto, if not much taste. Her rendition of The Fisherman of Capri is wonderfully energetic, both physically and vocally. Armin Mueller-Stahl is required mostly to be shy and calculating--that he comes out with the prize at the end is a surprise. Mario Adorf is one of my favorite actors and he doesn't disappoint here: vulgar, sly, subtle and conniving, he steals the show. Watch for Hark Bohm as the mayor, he's like a German Wally Cox, quite funny.
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