Besides being Fassbinder's greatest achievement, BA may also be the finest film every made dissecting the issues of class and capitalism.
It is 25 years since his death, and I still feel the deep loss of that day in June: other filmmakers seem puny in comparison.
For those unable to see the film properly projected (hopefully there will be screenings in cinema-friendly locations), there is a Criterion dvd release rumored for this year.
Berlin Alexanderplatz Remastered! - April 10-15, 2007
The North American premiere of the restored version of Rainer Werner Fassbinder's Berlin Alexanderplatz celebrates the Museum's acquisition of a 35mm print of the film-the "Mount Everest of modern cinema" (Andrew Sarris). Berlin Alexanderplatz, a breathtaking achievement in a career filled with remarkable works, was shot, edited and scored over six furious months with one hundred principal and supporting actors resulting in a fifteen hour film divided into thirteen parts and an epilogue.
Produced for German television in 1980, the film was released theatrically in New York in 1983 to great acclaim. Based on Alfred Döblin's influential and prescient epic novel about the waning days of the Weimar republic, Berlin Alexanderplatz traces the fall of Franz Biberkopf, an urban Everyman, as he attempts to make his way through a society compromised by unemployment, violence, anomie, and the conflicting promises of social order proclaimed by both Fascists and Communists.
Fassbinder not only adapted Döblin's complex narrative for the screen but also composed an original two hour epilogue in which Biberkopf travels through a turbulent dreamscape emerging from his and Germany's experiences.
The restoration of Berlin Alexanderplatz is a project of Bavaria Media (Munich) in association with the Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation (Berlin) and is made possible with the support of The Museum of Modern Art (New York), and grants from various German funding agencies. Under the guidance of Xavier Schwarzenberger and Juliane Lorenz, Berlin Alexanderplatz's cameraman and editor, respectively, the original 16mm negative was digitally remastered and transferred to 35mm with a 1:1.37 aspect ratio and new English subtitles.