''Baal'' is a 1970 German

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

directed by

Volker Schlöndorff Volker Schlöndorff (; born 31 March 1939 Friday) is a German film director, screenwriter and producer who has worked in Germany, France and the United States. He was a prominent member of the New German Cinema of the late 1960s and early 1970s, ...

. It is based on the 1923 play ''

Baal Baal (), or Baal,; phn, , baʿl; hbo, , baʿal, ). ( ''baʿal'') was a title and honorific meaning "owner", "lord" in the Northwest Semitic languages spoken in the Levant during Ancient Near East, antiquity. From its use among people, it cam ...

'' by

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a pl ...

. The film disappeared after

Helene Weigel Helene Weigel (; 12 May 19006 May 1971) was a German actress and artistic director. She was the second wife of Bertolt Brecht and was married to him from 1930 until his death in 1956. Together they had two children. Personal life Weigel was b ...

, Brecht's widow, saw it on television and demanded that it no longer be shown.

Ethan Hawke Ethan Green Hawke (born November 6, 1970) is an American actor and film director. He has been nominated for four Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards and a Tony Award. Hawke has directed three feature films, three off-Broadway plays, and a doc ...

asked Schlöndorff about seeing the film at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

, but Schlöndorff replied that he did not know where it was. Eventually the film was discovered in rusty, unmarked cans filed under S. At that point, the film was restored. It was given its first home video release by Criterion in 2018. The film did not make the 1919 play a period piece, and some of the interiors featured intentionally over-the-top colors. It was the first film

Dietrich Lohmann Dietrich Lohmann, B.V.K. (German Society of Cinematographers; 9 March 1943 – 13 November 1997) was a German cinematographer. He was born in Schnepfenthal, Waltershausen, Thuringia, Germany. He studied at the Staatliche Fachschule für Optik u ...

shot in color.

Margarethe von Trotta Margarethe von Trotta (; born 21 February 1942) is a German film director, screenwriter, and actress. She has been referred to as a "leading force" of the New German Cinema movement.

was the first actor cast. Fassbinder joined for the title role after Schlöndorff's first choice was unavailable. Much of the supporting cast and crew came from Fassbinder's company, whom he did not want to be put out of work by his absence.

Plot and themes

The film "explores the cult of the genius" as "an anti-heroic figure... chooses to be a social outcast and live on the fringe of bourgeois morality." In the film, "Volker Schlöndorff transposes Bertolt Brecht’s late-expressionist work to latter-day 1969", as et and anarchist Baal lives in an attic and reads his poems to cab drivers. At first feted and later rejected by bourgeois society, Baal roams through forests and along motorways, greedy for schnapps, cigarettes, women and men... After impregnating a young actress he soon comes to regard her as a millstone round his neck. He stabs a friend to death and dies alone."

Cast

Rainer Werner Fassbinder Rainer Werner Fassbinder (; 31 May 1945 – 10 June 1982), sometimes credited as R. W. Fassbinder, was a German filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the major figures and catalysts of the New German Cinema movement. Fassbinder's main ...

Baal * Sigi Graue: Ekart *

: Sophie * Günther Neutze: Mech * Miriam Spoerri: Emilie * Marian Seidowsky: Johannes * Irmgard Paulis: Johanna * Carla Egerer: Carla Aulaulu *

Hanna Schygulla Hanna Schygulla (; born 25 December 1943) is a German actress and chanson singer associated with the theater and film director Rainer Werner Fassbinder. She first worked for Fassbinder in 1965 and became an active participant in the New German ...

: Luise * Wilmut Borell: Mjurk * Rudolf Waldemar Brem: Holzfäller * Andrea Brüdern * Claudia Butenuth *

Johannes Buzalski Johannes Buzalski (1918–1977) was a German film and television actor.Rentschler p.287 Selected filmography * ''Hello, Fraulein!'' (1949) * ''Jonny Saves Nebrador'' (1953) * ''The Confession of Ina Kahr'' (1954) * ''Heroism after Hours'' (1955) ...

: Penner *

András Fricsay András Fricsay (born András Fricsay Kali Son 2 April 1942 in Szeged, Hungary) is a German actor and director. Filmography * '' Preis der Freiheit'' (1966) * ''Skin to Skin'' (1969) * ''Baal'' (1970) * '' Eines langen Tages Reise in die Nacht'' ...

* Michael Gempart *

Irm Hermann Irmgard Hermann (4 October 194226 May 2020) was a German actress. She worked in film, television, and the stage, appearing in over 160 film and television productions. She was discovered, without formal training, by Rainer Werner Fassbinder who c ...

: Hausherrin * Michael Grasshoff *

Günther Kaufmann Günther Kaufmann (16 June 1947 – 10 May 2012) was a German film actor best known for his association with director Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Fassbinder directed Kaufmann in a total of 14 films, casting him in leading and minor roles. Kaufmann ...

: Orgauer * Jean Launay *

Sabine von Maydell Sabine von Maydell (born 9 October 1955, Baden-Baden, Germany) is a German television actress. From October 1984 to March 2014, she was married to actor Claude-Oliver Rudolph. She has a son and a daughter, Oona von Maydell, who is also an actres ...

* Eva Pampuch: Frau im roten Kleid * Herbert Rimbach *

Christine Schuberth Christine Schuberth (born 1944) is an Austrian film and television actress.Garrett p.236 Selected filmography * '' Hot Pavements of Cologne'' (1967) * '' Take Off Your Clothes, Doll'' (1968) * ''Hugo, the Woman Chaser'' (1969) * '' King, Queen, K ...

: Striptiseuse Savitka *

Walter Sedlmayr Walter Sedlmayr (6 January 1926 – 14 July 1990) was a popular German stage, television, and film actor from Bavaria. His murder in 1990 was widely publicized. Career After his 1945 wartime ''Abitur,'' Sedlmayr served as a '' Flakhelfer'' to ...

* Sigi Sommer: Holzfäller * Ulf-Jürgen Wagner

Reference list

External links

*
''Baal: The Nature of the Beast''
an essay by Dennis Lim at the

Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scholars, cinep ...

1970 films 1970 television films 1970 drama films German drama films West German films German television films 1970s German-language films German-language television shows Films directed by Volker Schlöndorff Films scored by Klaus Doldinger Films based on works by Bertolt Brecht German films based on plays 1970s German films {{Germany-tv-film-stub