Amazingly Boring

To each his own. To me, it had a nervous edge to it that led right up to the ending. It's like on the surface, Maria was willing to push the envelope to be reunited with her husband, but in her heart she knew who she was and where she had come from and just how precarious the times were. So as the story progressed, what on the surface appeared to be success was in fact a situation which was spinning further and further out of control. Actually, the ending was a surprise to me. It certainly wasn't predictable.

I thought it was incredibly boring and I think that alot of the reviews completely go over the fact she was a prostitute and we wath through each of her endeavors, all for her husband?? what the F@(k?? If she really loved her husband, she would have sucked it up and lived in poverty like alot of other people did, not become a whore. She did it all for herself, because she only cared about money and material things.
I didn't like this movie at all.
The only thing that kept me awake was my anger towards her and the hope maybe she would stop being a whore.

I really believe that you should avoid this film if:

a) you have to watch the dubbed version. Never watch dubbed films; always watch them in their native language(s) with subtitles, if you need them.

b) you are "forced" to watch because you're in school. This film is definitely not for people under the age of 18. It's adult-themed. (And nobody should ever be forced to watch a film, anyways!)

c) you are easily distracted or suffer from Attention Deficit Disorder. If you watch a lot of MTV and/or Michael Bay films, this movie is most likely not for you.

d) you have "moral" hang-ups such as being a born-again Christian or an Islamic fundamentalist or some other strict religious sect with a restrictive code of regulations. This film is most definitely not for the squeamish, the prudish or the self-righteous.

Otherwise, please enjoy this wonderful and original masterpiece by Fassbinder!

I can resist anything but temptation.

Having just seen it today for the first time, I really can't see being bored by this one, particularly compared to something like say the Merchant-Ivory films. I thought it was excellent, though I didn't love it the way I did Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (where I cared a lot more for the characters and had sympathy for them unlike ice cold Maria Braun). I have sat through several slow-moving films lately that did make me want to nod off, but that didn't happen at all with Maria Braun.

Days of Heaven had me ready to doze during the early harvest section which went on for quite a while, but at least had the saving grace of some really beautiful cinematography, which looked like paintings come to life. Luckily it picked up later on.

I saw Tarkovsky's The Mirror and Solaris last week. The Mirror was very slow moving and doesn't have what one would call a plot, but it did have some great images and cinematography to make it worthwhile at the very least. Solaris made me splash ice cold water on my face during the first 30 minutes and I was bored to tears for much of the opening 45 minutes until he went up to the space station (with 2 more hours to go) and things started happening. While both had some really boring parts, I found them both worthwhile.

'Aguirre, Wrath of God' on the other hand managed to bore me in a mere 90 minutes, saved only by an interesting ending with weirdness and some good encircling camera movement. I actually did start dozing off during the film and had to rewind a bit to make sure I didn't miss anything. I know people seem to get all excited over Aguirre, but the making of story is a lot more interesting than the film itself and I felt like I'd rather sit through a few hours of History Channel re-enactments and Discovery Channel jungle footage. I'll take Apocalypse Now over Aguirre for river movies, even if I'm not a big fan of Coppola in general. I'm hoping to like some of Herzog's other films more.

I've only seen 2 films by R.W. Fassbinder so far (Ali:FEtS and this one) and I can already say that if I had the money today I'd order all of his Criterion discs and other films on dvd right now.

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"It's such a sadness that you think you've seen a film on your *beep* ing telephone. Get real."

Thanks for the post! I almost feel like a traitor to my film-loving brethren for not understanding what the hell was so "brilliant" about this. I will watch what some consider the most boring movies on earth and still find redeemable qualities and can read in the hidden meanings, critiques on pop. culture, etc. I wasn't necessarily bored, but I was completely uninterested in this. This is my first experience with Fassbinder and I'm not impressed. I know one of my fave directors, John Waters, is a huge fan and usually I align myself with his favorites as well. Am I just too dense to understand what was going on here? It seemed pointless. I would love someone who knows Fassbinder to contact me and explain what I missed.

WWJD..for a klondike bar.

i have seen this Once < and i didnt get it at start

I HAVE WATCH IT AND IT WAS QUITE EXCELENT..I BORROWED FROM LIBRARY SOME YEARS A GO AND I KIND OF LIKE IT...

No, I didn't find it boring. At all. On the contrary, I was fascinated. Some fantastic scenes, and perfect pacing.