A facinating study of characters finding themselves in extreme circumstances during the post-war decades in Germany. Maria Braun is a truly original character and a large part of our facination for her is due to her development from star-crossed lover and scavenger to an icy manipulator, navigating her way to the top of the business world. Despite how she treats the men around her, we still retain sympathy for her, largely because she is driven by loyalty and love to her husband and because she possess such an abundance of strong character traits such as determination, intellect, composure and dignity.

Excellent movie. Characters deep and complex. A true movie of a woman empowering herself. Fassbinder classic.

I just rewatched this and can't believe that I used to dislike it. This is an amazing film.