Rainer Werner Fassbinder was not a slouch as a filmmaker in West Germany. Over the course of 15 years he helmed 40 movies, including the monumental 15 hour Berlin Alexanderplatz. You may wonder where he got his energy and did he ever sleep. The easy answer would be found in the coroner’s report when Fassbinder’s heart gave out after an injection of sleeping pills and cocaine. He crammed a full life in a short time. In the middle of his prolific career, Fassbinder made I Only Want You to Love Me. This movie was made for West German TV but doesn’t play like an American TV movie with plucky characters being rewarded.
Peter (Vitus Zeplichal) is a construction worker who gets emotionally bounced around. He makes the mistake of constantly giving gifts to people to get love from them except it never works out. His parents don’t seem too delighted when he builds them a house. He moves to Munich with his pregnant girlfriend. He quickly falls into the credit trap to support her and pay for the maternity furniture. Things completely unravel for him. The money flow tightens up. He can’t deal with the ugliness of being at the mercy of lenders. He feels used by his parents and wife and goes into an extremely dark place.
Zeplichal perfects the look of a man drowning on dry land. He does his best to tread water no matter how far below surface he’s fallen. Often he stands in anticipation of expectations while holding flowers for others. His desire to look normal makes him believable when his psychologically loses it. Cinematographer Michael Ballhaus (Goodfellas) gets almost a documentary feel capturing Zeplichal’s constant disappointment. It looks more real than most of the reality shows on TV. For anyone curious about Fassbinder, I Only Want You to Love Me is a good place to start especially since it’s 13 hours shorter than Berlin Alexanderplatz.
The video is 1.33:1 full frame. Since this was originally broadcasted on West German TV, this is the proper aspect ratio. The transfer brings out the detail of Munich in the ‘70s. The audio is mono. There are English subtitles for those who don’t understand German.
Of Love and Constraints (62 minutes) is a documentary by Robert Fischer about the film. There’s plenty of behind the scenes footage from the original shoot. Fassbinder works with a hard hat while on the construction site. Michael Ballhaus shares what he can remember since he did so many films together in a short period. There is talk of how this film represented Fassbinder’s own home life. The film is in German with English subtitles.
I Only Want You to Love Me reminds us that hardworking people can get completely screwed over by the system. Peter wants to please people and ends up trapped in a life he can’t afford. The credit bills pile up. While this film takes place over three decades ago, this is a current topic.
Olive Films presents I Only Want You to Love Me. Written and Directed by: Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Starring: Vitus Zeplichal, Elke Aberle, Alexander Allerson and Emi Mangold. Running time: 110 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Released on DVD: June 7, 2011. Available at Amazon.com.
