In 1938, in Zurich, Willie, a German singer, loves Robert, a musician who belongs to a secret organization responsible for helping Jews escape Germany. Robert's father refuses this affair and ensures that the two lovers are separated. War breaks out. Forced to stay in Germany, Willie records a song, "Lili Marleen", broadcast throughout the Reich and which becomes a real triumph. The soldiers make this song their anthem, the Nazis their emblem, but fate brings Willie and Robert together again...
Inspired by an iconic song from World War II, made world famous by Marlene Dietrich, Lili Marleen tells the tragic story of a woman in Nazi Germany. With this monumental fresco, of a scale rare in Fassbinder's work, the filmmaker combines classic melodrama, historical romance and spy film. Offering Hanna Schygulla ( The Marriage of Maria Braun ) her greatest film role, Lili Marleen remains a major work by RW Fassbinder.
LILI MARLEEN
(1980 – Colors – 115 min)
DVD edition only
Released on April 4, 2012
