Parts I - V: Noon to 6:00 with a 1/2-hour intermission from 3:20 - 3:50.
Parts VI - VII: 7:30 - 9:30
Based on Alfred Doblin's monumental novel of Berlin in the 1920s, Rainer Werner Fassbinder's Berlin Alexanderplatz concerns an unemployed lumpen worker named Franz Biberkopf who earns his living as a thief and a pimp. When we meet him, he has just been in jail for murdering his mistress. Franz is a jovial if explosive figure in the Alexanderplatz district of Berlin, a man with optimistic dreams, a determination to “go straight,” and an absurd faith in love. Berlin Alexanderplatz chronicles the destruction of Franz Biberkopf's faith amid the poverty, hypocrisy and violence of Berlin in the years just before Nazism took full hold.
Unable to find work, Franz becomes involved in a close friendship with the hustler, Reinhold, who becomes his “best friend” and then betrays him in a number of important ways. Franz is involved with several women during the course of the drama, but when he meets the young prostitute, Mieze, he declares her “his most beloved in all the world.” It is upon losing her that Franz succumbs to despair--and allows himself to be transformed into a “useful member of society.”
With 100 leading and supporting actors, Berlin Alexanderplatz is filled with the characters and stories of Doblin's Berlin. Many of Fassbinder's excellent stock team of actors are featured: Gunter Lamprecht as Biberkopf, Gottfried John as Reinhold and Barbara Sukowa as Mieze, as well as Hanna Schygulla as Franz's friend, Eva, and Volker Spengler as the gang leader, Pums.
Parts I through VII are entitled: I: Punishment Will Come (Die Strafe beginnt) (81 mins). II: How Can You Live If You Don't Want to Die (Wie soll man leben, wenn man nicht sterben will) (59 mins). III: A Blow from a Hammer Can Hurt the Soul (Ein Hammer auf den Kopf kann die Seele verletzen) (59 mins). IV: A Handful of People in the Depths of Silence (Eine Handvoll Menschen in der Tiefe der Stille) (59 mins). V: A Reaper with the Power of the Almighty (Ein Schnitter mit der Gewalt vom lieben Gott) (59 mins). VI: The Price of Love Is Always High (Ein Liebe, das kostet immer viel) (58 mins). VII: Remember: An Oath Can Be Cut Off (Merke: einen Schwur man kann amputieren) (58 mins).