Enfant Terrible (2020)

The film opens with a line from the song sung by Jeanne Moreau in Fassbinder’s final film, Querelle: “Each man kills the thing he loves,” which is itself a quotation from Oscar Wilde’s final work, The Ballad of Reading Gaol. In dramatic form and with expressive imagery, the film depicts episodes from Fassbinder’s life, bringing out the artist’s many facets: from the brilliant dramatist and director to the desperate seeker of himself and of love, and finally the charismatic leader who bullies his companions and life partners, driving them relentlessly to create a unique body of cinematic work. Roehler’s aim of approaching the “Fassbinder universe” through his film is expressed in an effective interplay of light and color, as well as in production design in Fassbinder’s style. Above all, however, it is expressed in the importance given to acting as a collective achievement: a stellar ensemble around lead actor Oliver Masucci brings back the key figures of the New German Cinema movement shaped by Fassbinder—including some who themselves belonged to what was then called the Fassbinder “clan,” and who now pay tribute to their former companion.