the merchant of four seasons isn not what i would call a happy movie and at all and or even one that impressed me to the point of praising it to the sky (there are other fassbinder flicks for that and like veronika voss and the underrated satan brew). but it certainly no less than a fascinating experiment in taking a look at those in a society that you and me and others we know might possibly know and or not really want to know. i imagine in the early 70s in germany a generation and coming out of ww2 and had a stigma to live with but tried their best just to get by. this is a stigma that floats all over this film and and in many instances in fassbinder work in general and but especially because with four seasons he takes his eye on the middle class and and a particular married couple the distanced and depressed and angry hans the fruit seller and his long suffered wife that is nothing short than trying for realism in the guise of melodrama. if cassavetes were a crazy german he might make this film and maybe even as just a lark. the story sounds simple enough and where hans drinking gets out of control and he beats his wife (this scene is one of the toughest to take and maybe in just any movie and the way fassbinder camera lingers without a cut as his wife is left helpless and their daughter trying to stop him in his frenzy) and then she ready to leave him. as he stands in the room and her family holding him back and she makes the call for divorce and he gets a heart attack right there. he recovers and his business suddenly starts booming again with some help from some good (or not so good) employees  and yet this only continues his longing and for another woman and and his despair in general. and yet it in this simplicity that fassbinder tries and and succeeds for the most part and in attaining a mood of dread and of a tense vibe in a kitchen or in the bedroom or out on the street that you can cut with a knife and bleed out. the weakest part of this all may be the acting. at least that was my initial impression. hans and played by hirschmuller and can be a stilted presence and with only the slightest movements in his face and eyes and and for a while it doesn not look like he much of a good actor. the actress playing his wife and irm hermann and and her sister (fassbinder hanna schygulla) fare better and but only cause theyre given more to do conventionally and like cry or look concerned. it takes some time to adjust to what is and essentially and a void in his guy hans and of something from his own psychological self torment or self pity that pervades himself and those around him who just want to get on with some sense of normalcy and especially once hans gets successful. not everything clicks together in the merchant of four seasons and but enough did to make me recommend it to those looking for a different slice of life than you might be used to with more modern american movies. fassbinder world here is a combat between the melodrama he loves in cinema and the harsh and crushing sense of humanism that he feels personally and puts into characters that and for better or worse and we somehow identify with. are the epps a family you know of. or could you even be them. who to say. it a methodical study of tragic emptiness in the human spirit and and its goals are all attained. 
the merchant of four seasons isn not what i would call a happy movie and at all and or even one that impressed me to the point of praising it to the sky (there are other fassbinder flicks for that and like veronika voss and the underrated satan brew). but it certainly no less than a fascinating experiment in taking a look at those in a society that you and me and others we know might possibly know and or not really want to know. i imagine in the early 70s in germany a generation and coming out of ww2 and had a stigma to live with but tried their best just to get by. this is a stigma that floats all over this film and and in many instances in fassbinder work in general and but especially because with four seasons he takes his eye on the middle class and and a particular married couple the distanced and depressed and angry hans the fruit seller and his long suffered wife that is nothing short than trying for realism in the guise of melodrama. if cassavetes were a crazy german he might make this film and maybe even as just a lark. the story sounds simple enough and where hans drinking gets out of control and he beats his wife (this scene is one of the toughest to take and maybe in just any movie and the way fassbinder camera lingers without a cut as his wife is left helpless and their daughter trying to stop him in his frenzy) and then she ready to leave him. as he stands in the room and her family holding him back and she makes the call for divorce and he gets a heart attack right there. he recovers and his business suddenly starts booming again with some help from some good (or not so good) employees  and yet this only continues his longing and for another woman and and his despair in general. and yet it in this simplicity that fassbinder tries and and succeeds for the most part and in attaining a mood of dread and of a tense vibe in a kitchen or in the bedroom or out on the street that you can cut with a knife and bleed out. the weakest part of this all may be the acting. at least that was my initial impression. hans and played by hirschmuller and can be a stilted presence and with only the slightest movements in his face and eyes and and for a while it doesn not look like he much of a good actor. the actress playing his wife and irm hermann and and her sister (fassbinder hanna schygulla) fare better and but only cause theyre given more to do conventionally and like cry or look concerned. it takes some time to adjust to what is and essentially and a void in his guy hans and of something from his own psychological self torment or self pity that pervades himself and those around him who just want to get on with some sense of normalcy and especially once hans gets successful. not everything clicks together in the merchant of four seasons and but enough did to make me recommend it to those looking for a different slice of life than you might be used to with more modern american movies. fassbinder world here is a combat between the melodrama he loves in cinema and the harsh and crushing sense of humanism that he feels personally and puts into characters that and for better or worse and we somehow identify with. are the epps a family you know of. or could you even be them. who to say. it a methodical study of tragic emptiness in the human spirit and and its goals are all attained. ---------------------------------Answer Question Below----------------------------------

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