Plot Summary

Lola
Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1981 

Germany in the autumn of 1957: Lola, a seductive cabaret singer-prostitute (Barbara Sukowa) exults in her power as a temptress of men, but she wants out—she wants money, property, and love. Pitting a corrupt building contractor (Mario Adorf) against the new straight-arrow building commissioner (Armin Mueller-Stahl), Lola launches an outrageous plan to elevate herself in a world where everything, and everyone, is for sale. Shot in childlike, candy colors Fassbinder’s homage to Josef Von Sternberg’s classic The Blue Angel stands as a satiric tribute to capitalism.

The Marriage of Maria Braun
Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1978

Maria (Hanna Schygulla) marries Hermann Braun in the last days of World War II, only to have him disappear in the war. Alone, Maria uses her beauty and ambition to prosper in Germany's “economic miracle” of the 1950’s. Fassbinder’s biggest international box-office success and the first part of his “postwar trilogy,” The Marriage of Maria Braun is a heartbreaking study of a woman picking herself up from the ruins of her own life, as well as a pointed metaphorical attack on a society determined to forget its past.

Veronika Voss
Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1982

Once beloved Third-Reich era starlet Veronika Voss (Rosel Zech) lives in obscurity in postwar Munich. Struggling for survival and haunted by past glories, the forgotten star encounters sportswriter Robert Krohn (Hilmar Thate) in a rain-swept park and intrigues him with her mysterious beauty. As their unlikely relationship develops, Krohn comes to discover the dark secrets behind the faded actresses’ demise. Based on the true story of a World War II UFA star, Veronika Voss is wicked satire disguised as 1950s melodrama.

Speical Features

• New high-definition digital transfers of all three films, enhanced for widescreen televisions
• I Don't Just Want You to Love Me, a feature - length documentary of Fassbinder's life and career
• Life Stories: A conversation with R.W. Fassbinder, a rare 45 - minute interview with the director, made for German television
• Exclusive video interview with Fassbinder cinematographer Xaver Schwarzenberger
• Exclusive video conversation between Fassbinder scholar Laurence Kardish and editor Juliane Lorenz
• Audio commentary on The Marriage of Maria Braun by cinematographer Michael Ballhaus and renowned filmmaker Wim Wenders
• Exclusive video interview with the star of The Marriage of Maria Braun and regular Fassbinder collaborator, Hanna Schygulla
• Video interview with Fassbinder scholar Eric Rentschler on The Marriage of Maria Braun
• Audio commentary on Veronika Voss by Fassbinder scholar Tony Rayns
• New video conversation with Veronika Voss star Rosel Zech and editor Juliane Lorenz
• Dance with Death (Tanz mit dem Tod), a one - hour portrait of UFA Studios star Sybille Schmitz, Fassbinder's inspiration for the character Veronika Voss
• Audio commentary on Lola by Fassbinder documentarian, biographer, and friend Christian Braad Thomsen
• New video interview with Lola star Barbara Sukowa
• New video interview with Fassbinder co - screenwriter Peter Marthesheimer
• New and improved English subtitle translations for all three films
• Optimal image quality: RSDL dual - layer editions