''Lili Marleen'' is a 1981 West German

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

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 ...

that stars

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 ...

Giancarlo Giannini Giancarlo Giannini (born 1 August 1942) is an Italian actor and voice actor. He won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor for his performance in ''Love and Anarchy'' (1973) and received an Academy Award nomination for ''Seven Beauties' ...

, and

Mel Ferrer Melchor Gastón Ferrer (August 25, 1917 – June 2, 2008) was an American actor, director, producer and screenwriter. He achieved prominence on Broadway before scoring notable film hits with ''Scaramouche'', ''Lili'' and ''Knights of the Round ...

. Set in the time of the

Third Reich Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

, the film recounts the love affair between a German singer who becomes the darling of the nation, based on

Lale Andersen Lale Andersen (23 March 1905 – 29 August 1972) was a German chanson singer-songwriter and actress born in Lehe (now part of Bremerhaven). She is best known for her interpretation of the song ''Lili Marleen'' in 1939, which by 1941 transcend ...

, and a Swiss conductor, based on

Rolf Liebermann Rolf Liebermann (14 September 1910 – 2 January 1999), was a Swiss composer and music administrator. He served as the Artistic Director of the Hamburg State Opera from 1959 to 1973 and again from 1985 to 1988. He was also Artistic Director of ...

, who is active in saving his fellow Jews. Though the screenplay uses the

autobiographical novel An autobiographical novel is a form of novel using autofiction techniques, or the merging of autobiographical and fictive elements. The literary technique is distinguished from an autobiography or memoir by the stipulation of being fiction. ...

''Der Himmel hat viele Farben'' (''The Heavens Have Many Colors'') by Lale Andersen, her last husband, Arthur Beul, said the film bears little relation to her real life.

Plot

In Switzerland, an aspiring German singer called Willie is in love with Robert, a trainee conductor who is Jewish. His family are part of a network enabling Jews and their money to find safety in neutral Switzerland. Fearing that the network could be endangered by Robert's involvement with a German woman, his wealthy father has her deported. Back in Germany, Willie comes under the protection of Henkel, a high Nazi official who advances her career. Her song “Lili Marleen” becomes the favourite of the armed forces, making her rich and famous. Under a false identity, Robert enters Germany to try and recruit her for the network. She loves him still, and obtains for him film showing the Nazi death camps in Poland. When he is caught by the Gestapo, she comes under suspicion but is cleared. His father negotiates his return to Switzerland, where he is married to a suitable Jewish girl. At the end of the war Willie is able to get into Switzerland, where she is delighted to attend Robert's first concert, but there is no hope of renewing their romance.

Cast

as Willie *

as Robert *

as David Mendelsson *

Karl-Heinz von Hassel Karl-Heinz von Hassel (8 February 1939 – 19 April 2016) was a German actor. He appeared in more than 100 films and television shows between 1960 and 2012. Born in Hamburg, he trained for a business career and also took acting lessons. Fro ...

as Roman Henkel *

Erik Schumann Erik Schumann (15 February 1925 – 9 February 2007) was a German actor. He appeared in 100 films and television shows between 1942 and 1997. He was most successful during the 1950s and 1960s, when he played leading roles in several German f ...

as Joachim von Strehlow *

Hark Bohm Hark Bohm (; born 18 May 1939) is a German actor, screenwriter, film director, playwright and former professor for cinema studies. He was born in Hamburg-Othmarschen and grew up on the island Amrum. His younger brother was the actor Marquard Bo ...

as Hugo Taschner *

Gottfried John Gottfried John (; 29 August 1942 – 1 September 2014) was a German stage, screen, and voice actor. A long-time collaborator of Rainer Werner Fassbinder, John appeared in nine of the filmmaker's projects between 1975 and 1981, the year befor ...

as Aaron Nolte *

Karin Baal Karin Baal (born 19 September 1940), real name Karin Blauermel, is a German film actress. She has appeared in more than 90 films since 1956. Filmography Films *1956: ''Teenage Wolfpack'' *1957: '' Tired Theodore'' *1957: ' *1957: ''The Heart o ...

as Anna Lederer *

Christine Kaufmann Christine Maria Kaufmann (; 11 January 1945 – 28 March 2017) was a German-Austrian actress, author, and businesswoman. The daughter of a German father and a French mother, she won the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actress f ...

as Miriam *

Udo Kier Udo Kierspe (born 14 October 1944), known professionally as Udo Kier, is a German actor. Known primarily as a character actor, Kier has appeared in more than 220 films in both leading and supporting roles throughout Europe and the Americas. He h ...

as Heinrich Drewitz *

Roger Fritz Roger Fritz (22 September 1936 – 26 November 2021) was a German actor, director, producer and photographer, perhaps best known for ''Cross of Iron'', and his work with Rainer Werner Fassbinder in ''Querelle'', ''Lili Marleen'' and '' Berlin Ale ...

as Christoph Kauffmann * Rainer Will as Edgar Bernt * Raúl Gimenez as Emil Blonsky *

Adrian Hoven Adrian Hoven (18 May 1922 – 28 April 1981) was an Austrian actor, producer and film director. He appeared in 100 films between 1947 and 1981. He was born in Wöllersdorf, Austria as ''Wilhelm Arpad Hofkirchner'' and died in Tegernsee, Ge ...

as Hellmuth Ginsberg *

Willy Harlander Willy Harlander (1931–2000) was a German film and television actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media su ...

as Michael Prosel

Awards and nominations

Of the 23 theatrical films that Fassbinder directed, Lili Marleen was the only one that Germany submitted to the academy to be considered for a

Best Foreign Language Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

nomination. The film, while a German production, was one of the few that Fassbinder shot in English. Ultimately, the film was not nominated.Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

References

External links

*
Fassbinder Foundation – Lili Marleen the movie
1981 films German war drama films West German films 1980s German-language films Films about Nazi Germany 1980s war drama films Films directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder Films about race and ethnicity Films set in Berlin Films produced by Horst Wendlandt Biographical films about singers Films based on songs 1981 drama films 1980s German films {{war-drama-film-stub

Plot

Cast

Awards and nominations

See also

References

External links