The Anarchy of the Imagination: Interviews, Essays, Notes

by Rainer Werner Fassbinder

The Anarchy of the Imagination colects the most important interviews, essays, and working notes of Rainer Werner Fassbinder, one of the most influential cultural figures to emerge from postwar Germany. Whether reflecting on his won work oir writing about other directors, whether describing his discovery of actress Hanna Schygulla or speaking out in favor of political film making, Fassbinder's perspective is radical, subjective, and challenging. The writing in this volume-nearly all presented here for the first time in English-are an essential part of Fassbinder's legacy, the remarkable body of work in which present-day German reality finds brilliant expression.

Genres: Film, Nonfiction, Essays, Queer, Germany, German Literature, Art

280 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

German film director, screenwriter, and actor. He was one of the most important figures in the New German Cinema. Being one of the most representative of modernism in cinema, he filmed more than forty film in his 16 years career and also signed scripts and plays that later have been used by others directors.

Reviews

[Dionysius the Areopagite · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was just looking for this book.

I remembered I gave it away once in love;

and thas why love no good.

[Tosh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't read this in a long time, but his name brings back memories of his intelligence and just the force of his personality that comes through the page and of course through his films.

I remembered when he passed away. I was very sick in bed with a flu, and I read he died in bed while watching a video tape of the TV show "Dallas." Which struck me (as I was sick in bed) the perfect passing for Fassbinder.

I discovered his works by accident. I went to the first night of a very long retrospective of his work at the Fox Venice Theater. I can't remember what the first film was, but I had to go see more of his work the next night. And then the night after that.... Basically I stopped my life to see every film (at the time) by Fassbinder. & I went to see his films alone. It was probably the most intense film-going experience in my life. Many years later I talked to various people and a lot of them had the same experience at that very retrospective!

Fassbinder had that "it" factor.

[?0?0?0 · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The Anarchy of the Imagination," is, by no too large a praise, a must own for fans of Mr. Fassbinder and those seeking to maybe make a movie one day. This is the type of book that should exist for every fascinating director but sadly does not: interviews spanning the years wherein discussions of his movies, politics, and social views can be found and these same themes and topics likewise show up in the many articles Rainer Fassbinder wrote (this includes: an article on Hannah, 13 Moons, charges of anti-semitism, Douglas Sirk's movies). If you feel that you already know this man well already, or would rather not read something nearly as bleak as the movies, I still think there's enough in this book for you, and if you'd like to know more about his work, the movies he loves and why he loves them (as well as the ones he hates) and want to know more about the life and work of one of the three best German filmmakers, this book is going to be delightful. More books like these, please.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

However you feel about Rainer Werner Fassbinder as a director -- and I happen to feel that among his many, many films are some of the greatest ever made -- this collection attests to the fact that he was an incredible thinker and writer, a man for whom living and challenging the very institutional repressions that make living so terrifying were one and the same. If for no other reason buy this book for Fassbinder's essay on Berlin Alexanderplatz (which he adapted into a fifteen and a half hour television film masterpiece) and his "Two Monologues and a Text on Despair," his non-masterpiece but still fascinating adaptation of Nabakov's novel:

"Destruction isn't the opposite of what exists. Destruction is when this concept no longer exists, when it doesn't have any meaning anymore, when it has a reality that makes it disappear. What people invent then -- that would be exciting."

[Iulia Kyçyku · Rating 4 out of 5]

a really useful book for filmmakers / film lovers, due to Fassbinder's unconventional and unpredictable views on cinema & art

[Dylan Kiewel · Rating 4 out of 5]

"what do you think is needed for a perfect sunday morning?"
"caviar, champagne, the eighth symphony of mahler, "radio activity" by kraftwerk, the sunday bild paper, a book so exciting you don't want it to end, a friend, a good friend, and the possibility of unplugging the phone."

"how do you visualize your professional and private future?"
"there isn't any past, there isn't any present, so there isn't any future, either."

a must for fassheads

[Clove · Rating 4 out of 5]

The curation felt a bit fanboy-ish (there're more than one list of 'favourites', for example, and an (admittedly adorable) Generic Fan-Magazine-type Quiz - which I think he would've actually enjoyed, if laughed at, and seen as indicative of the sort of mindless social process that people learn to question via art.) Still, necessary reading for anyone looking for insights into the man's creative process and/i.e. belief system (because they're nearly one and the same for him, which is probably why he could be so consistent in his output). I made plenty of notes in the margins.

Holds plenty of interest for more straight-up film fans, as well, including an outline/treatment of Thirteen Moons before it was written that is extraordinary to read.

[Brian O'Connell · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you admire the filmmaker, it’s indispensable. A panoptic sampling of interviews, essays, outlines, notes, lists, and disorganized thoughts that offer unique insights into the man’s mode of thought and approach to life, politics, and art—which, as others have commented, all went together for him. Highlights include a list of his favorite films, books, actors and actresses, etc.; preliminary outlines for the films Querelle and Cocaine, which provide a distinct window into his idiosyncratic process of literary adaptation; and an astonishing treatment for what is perhaps his greatest film, In a Year of 13 Moons, which reads like a short story (or a fairy tale) and is just as devastatingly moving as the film itself. The words of a genius. A treasure.

[Jericho · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rating himself #1 on "The Ten Most Important Directors in the New German Cinema" is a total Fassbinder move

[Daniel Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thrill as Fassy relitigates his beef with Rosa von Praunheim! Gasp at the intricately detailed character sketch/synopsis written as an outline for In a Year of 13 Moons! This may look like a for-fans-only tome, but there's two pieces in here anyone from twenty to a-hundred-and-twenty can and should enjoy: RWF's beautifully plainspoken monograph on the Hollywood films of Douglas Sirk, and "Answers to Questions from Schoolchildren," select excerpts from which I have transcribed below:

"What do you think of Christmas without a Christmas tree?"
"People who have been brought up so hypocritically that they need such symbols should just be left alone until we have a society where such things aren't necessary anymore."

"Do you see the mentally ill as a burden to our society?"
"In our society there's no one who isn't mentally ill."

"How do you picture your old age?"
"I don't expect to experience it."

"Do you believe in the existence of extraterrestrial beings?"
"Yes."

[antoniomorales · Rating 5 out of 5]

'Me niego a cortejar al público, renuncio a suspirar por que me quiera, aunque eso sea lo más importante del mundo para mí, que me quieran.'

Una de las recopilaciones de ensayos, entrevistas y notas de trabajo de Fassbinder más importantes publicadas en castellano. Entre curiosidades y claves de sus principales proyectos ordenados cronológicamente, se cuelan reflexiones sobre las películas de otros autores, la política alemana del momento o reflexiones vitales que, de alguna u otra manera, ya aparecen expuestas en su trabajo. De entre los textos seleccionados, destacan especialmente la sinopsis larga de 'Un año con trece lunas', el propio análisis de su trabajo con Hanna Schygulla -que acaba dibujando un interesantísimo semblante de una de sus actrices fetiche, así como el arranque de su carrera y la formación del Antitheater-, y un tierno cuestionario escolar, que cierra el volumen.

[Aerandir · Rating 4 out of 5]

In your opinion, what effect can films have on society? What can a filmmaker do for society?

He can do a lot. Entertain. Tell stories in such a way that the moviegoer is entertained and afterwards is no stupider; he can make various things clear to him or make him want to get various things straight for himself, he can express fears. For others. If no one does that, we'd withdraw into the kind of silence in which sooner or later you become a moron. Film can give the moviegoer the courage to continue expressing things, taking a position on them, and making it known. I do feel that film as a medium can be effective in all sorts of ways. And it's always a means of entertainment, and should remain that, too. Like literature, which is also supposed to be fun, or music, quite aside from the effect it can have.

[Drew · Rating 4 out of 5]

When reading the interviews you can almost hear the trite answer someone else would give to the press junket questions even as Fassbinder explodes the universe in another direction. The Q&As are indeed the best part of this hodgepodge collection but his anti-tribute to Hanna Schygulla is nastily respectful in a mesmerizing way and his spellbinding story "In a Year of 13 Moons" may be better than the movie itself. His rants and raves of other movie directors make you wish he stuck to what he knew best: himself.

[Max Gouvalaris · Rating 5 out of 5]

RWF I love you (I mean you’re a horrible person but I love you theoretically)