About
In late 1920s Berlin, Franz Biberkopf is released from prison and vows to go straight. However, he soon finds himself embroiled in the city’s criminal underworld.
Cast
Günter Lamprecht
as Franz Biberkopf
Rainer Werner Fassbinder
as Narrator (voice, uncredited)
Episodes
Limited Series
The Punishment Begins
In 1928 Berlin, Franz Biberkopf is released after serving four years in Tegel prison for the murder of his girlfriend Ida. After settling into his old apartment, he visits Ida's sister Minna and rapes her. In a flashback, Franz kills Ida with a cream whip after correctly suspecting she's about to leave him. Franz encounters and drinks with old friend Meck, where he meets Lina Przybilla, a young Polish woman, who moves in with him. He receives notification from local police that he's barred from certain districts and surrounding municipalities, under threat of a fine or imprisonment. Placing himself under the supervision of a charity called Prisoners' Aid, to which he must report once a month while remaining in employment, Franz is able to stay.
How Is One to Live If One Doesn’t Want to Die?
Biberkopf is self-employed, hawking necktie holders on the street, but has trouble making enough and doesn't consider himself an orator. After turning down the opportunity to sell sex ed manuals, he's talked into selling the Nazi newspaper Völkischer Beobachter and wearing a swastika armband. In the subway, Franz is confronted by a Jewish man selling hot sausages, but denies being antisemitic, and Dreske with two other men also known to him. Dreske admires Lenin and the Soviet Union, but Franz responds by decrying revolution and 'their' Weimar Republic.
A Hammer Blow to the Head Can Injure the Soul
Troubled by the dubious nature of Franz's job, Lina introduces him to family friend Otto Lüders, who turns out to be an ex-con he knows from prison, but Franz thinks Otto is good. With him, Franz begins selling shoelaces. In the first apartment, he spends time with a widow whose deceased husband he closely resembles. Later, to Otto, he reports having sex with the widow. Otto visits the widow, expecting the same, but she feels threatened and rejects him. Otto demands money and steals from her. When Franz goes back to the widow, happily expecting another tryst, she slams the door on him. Franz vanishes.
A Handful of People in the Depths of Silence
Franz goes on an alcohol binge as former medical orderly Baumann searches for him in rooms in a building opposite the one occupied by the prisoners' charity on which he depends for his liberty in Berlin. Franz wanders the streets in a delirious state; outside a church he takes a coal delivery man for a pastor. When he comes round after another binge, Baumann tells him he has been lying in a stupor for three days. Franz now feels that neither God, Satan, angels or other people can help him.
A Grim Reaper with Powers from Almighty God
Franz, after several fleeting encounters, has finally become reacquainted with his former pimp Eva, who feels a deep affection for him, and has paid the rent for his old rooms in his absence. Meck introduces Franz to Pums, the ringleader of an illegal enterprise, and his right-hand man Reinhold. Tired of his woman, Fränze, Reinhold wants Franz to take her off his hands. Franz has her come over and has sex with her. She returns to him after she's unable to find Reinhold. Reinhold then employs the same plan with his current woman, Cilly, whom Franz accommodates after provoking a row with Fränze.
Love Has Its Price
Franz explains to Reinhold that he wants Cilly to stay with him. Franz gets sucked into Pums's gang when he is drafted for a job as a last-minute replacement for Bruno, who is beaten in the street. Franz serves as lookout as Pums, Reinhold, and Meck pull a robbery. In the getaway truck, Reinhold becomes suspicious of Franz because of a car seemingly following them, so Reinhold ejects Franz.
Remember—An Oath Can Be Amputated
Franz has survived, but his right arm has been amputated. He recuperates for a time with Eva and Eva's lover Herbert, who agitates against Pums's syndicate, so the boss decides to take up a collection to help with Franz's medical costs. Franz goes to a red light district and encounters a pimp who offers a woman he calls the 'Whore of Babylon'.
The Sun Warms the Skin, But Burns It Sometimes Too
Franz becomes involved in an illegal enterprise with Willy, whom he met at a cabaret. Eva and Herbert drop by to see Franz and bring a young woman, Emilie Karsunke, whom they offer as a new lover. Franz and the tender-hearted woman, whom he nicknames Mieze, fall for each other. However, their spell of love is broken when Franz finds a love letter from another man.
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