Baal

Starring: Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Sigi Graue, Margarethe von Trotta, et al.

Volker Schlondorff transported Bertolt Brecht's 1918 debut play to contemporary West Germany for this vicious experiment in adaptation, seldom seen for nearly half a century. Oozing with brutish charisma, Rainer Werner Fassbinder embodies the eponymous anarchist poet, who feels himself cast out from bourgeois society and sets off on a schnapps-soaked rampage. Hewing faithfully to Brecht's text, Schlondorff juxtaposes the theatricality of the prose with bare-bones, handheld 16 mm camera work, which gives immediacy to this savage story of rebellion. Featuring a supporting cast of Fassbinder's troupe of theater actors as well as Margarethe von Trotta, Baal demonstrates the uncompromising nature of Schlondorff's vision and forged a path for New German Cinema.

• Format: DVD
• Language: English
• UPC: 715515213110
• Release Date: January 2018
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Publisher: Criterion Collection
• Director: Volker Schlondorff
• Starring: Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Sigi Graue, Margarethe von Trotta, Gunther Neutze, Miriam Spoerri, Marian Seidowsky, Carla Aulaulu, Hanna Schygulla, Walter Sedlmayr, Gunther Kaufmann
• Runtime: 1 hour, 24 minutes
• Number of Disks: 1
• Other Video Info: Full Screen; NTSC; Subtitled
• Weight: 0.17 lbs.
• Dimensions: 5.4" x 7.5"