MovieChat Forums > Die Ehe der Maria Braun (1979) Discussion > Maria did not love Hermann...

Maria did not love Hermann...

posted 10 years ago by dalibor-jokic
3 replies | jump to latest

All she ever did in the movie was flirt and have affairs with every man she came into contact with - She stopped "loving" him the moment she threw the sign she was carrying on her back under the train tracks. Hermann was only an "ideal" to her, a romantic proposition she envisaged, "Who" Hermann actually was as a person did not really matter to her - as, we know, they were only married for two days before he was enlisted.

Maria is a tormented individual, borderline psychotic (lack of empathy), never happy, never depressed. She is most likely Fassbinders synonym for the post-war Germany and the people's state of mind.

"Sure. It's been there a while, it's still got Anthony Eden's lipstick on the bottle."

[–] 10 years ago

[deleted]

[–] ibbi 10 years ago

Agreed with all that, not that there's much room for interpretation of any of that I think beyond being about Germany itself there's also an autobiographical slant to it too. I think there's a lot of himself in this character, and her destructive ways.

He stole my Barbie.

[–] MagicSlim 8 years ago

I think that that is right. Parallels the hope in the new Germany which like the sign for Herman ended up under the bus (train). That's the start of the transformation of Maria from the waiting loyal wife to the self centered, ambitious, status climber.