The Merchant of Four Seasons
Dir: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
1971
*****
Fassbinder's strength lies in his melodramas of suppression and release, The Merchant of Four Seasons is a brilliant example of this. Starring the incredible Irm Hermann, The Merchant of Four Seasons marks the next chapter of Fassbinder's career, just before the awesome The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant. Fassbinder is masterful at switching empathy and support between each character, by the end you will be torn as to whether you pity the main characters or reserve sympathy because quite frankly they brought it on themselves and in doing so it actually invokes a little bit of self assessment. The sign of a master filmmaker.