The Marriage of Maria Braun

Set in Germany during and after the Second World War, The Marriage of Maria Braun follows a woman who weds a young soldier named Hermann Braun as the conflict enters its final phase. He is sent back to the front almost immediately and later reported missing, leaving Maria to provide for her mother and grandfather in a ruined, hungry country. She takes work as a bar hostess and becomes involved with Bill, an African American soldier who supplies her with scarce goods. The arrangement is upended when Hermann turns out to be alive.

Rainer Werner Fassbinder directed the film, his seventh feature in the chronological list that begins with Katzelmacher in 1969 and continues through Whity, The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant, Ali: Fear Eats the Soul, Chinese Roulette and Despair before this title, followed later by Lola, Lili Marleen, Querelle and Veronika Voss. Peter Märthesheimer and Pea Fröhlich wrote the screenplay, and Hanna Schygulla leads a credited cast of 29 that includes Klaus Löwitsch, Ivan Desny, George Eagles, Gisela Uhlen and Elisabeth Trissenaar.

The production, made in Germany on a budget of about 2 million dollars, was released in March 1979. On IMDb it holds 7.7/10 across 16,000 votes, on TMDB 7.4/10 from 308 votes, while critics' reviews average 8.6/10 from 27 reviews.