Focus on R.W. Fassbinder II: Das Kaffeehaus (1970)

I decided to ease into Fassbinder this time around. Last time I threw myself headfirst into Berlin Alexanderplatz. This time I thought I'd take it a little slower, if such a thing is possible. I thought (foolishly in retrospect) that walking through the plays Fassbinder's reworked for television would be a good way to dip by toe back in the waters.

Not so. Sure, checking out Das Kaffeehaus, Fassbinder's sparse version of Carlo Goldoni 1750 play, 'La bottega del caffè' is a good reminder of the director's stillness, his preoccupation with both class and economic structures, and a reintroduction to the bulk of his favoured acting troupe (Margit Carstensen, Ingrid Caven, Hanna Schygulla, Kurt Raab, Harry Baer and Günther Kaufmann all appear - though the foggy video didn't aid recognition).

The whole thing takes place on a single white stage populated with black wooden chairs. The near-static cast deliver the stories of wealth and social degradation as patrons floating through a coffee house in Venice. Goldoni's play is not so much updated as its themes of ownership and socioeconomic clutching are reinforced through Fassbinder's adaptation, which cleverly focusses on the transactional with the constant verbalisation of cross-generational currency exchange rates.

As relatable as Fassbinder has made Goldini's text for contemporary Germans, there remains something about impenetrable about its delivery. That is by design, but it is a design that no doubt worked better on the stage. Fassbinder's floating single-shot camerawork carves up the space with televisual efficiency. He captures the production's apathetic theatricality precisely, which I would assume is the aim here. Das Kaffeehaus is a record more than a film. Still, that was to be expected.

If anything, this arch theatrical language makes for a chilly (re)entry point. I assume this will be the case for most of these theatrical television productions. Be that as it may, I'm going to persist with my original plan. Before hitting Fassbinder's films proper, I'm going to knock off these stagier beasts (I imagine they'll vary in their formalism) before closing off this stream with his documentary on the state of theatre in 1980s German.

You might have to indulge me over the next couple of posts.

Next up: Pioniere in Ingolstadt.

This post contributes to Director Focus: Rainer Werner Fassbinder II.