The radio is playing. At the start of the film - in 1943 - yet you can barely hear the music of Beethoven thanks to the noise of gunshots and explosions, children crying and sirens wailing. The radio plays at the end of the film too, a broadcast of the 1954 final of the football World Cup, which finishes West Germany 3-2 Hungary. For Hungarians, the match is an enduring national tragedy. For the Germans it is a memorable moment, a time when, after the passing of a decade, they could finally face the world as something other than a nation of sin. It is poignant, and grotesque. In war, everything is so simple. Black and white. The true transition to peace, to consolidation, is more complicated, full of contradictions. The fact that Maria Braun's moral odyssey enjoyed worldwide renown was undoubtedly in large part due to the fact that the title role was played by Hanna Schygulla, a defining actress of the New German Cinema of the 1970s and 1980s. Schygulla appeared in 23 films from the short-lived but explosively productive Fassbinder. She was one of the most iconic actresses of the era, employed by the most important directors. Yet Marriage of Maria Braun holds a special place in her spectacular career. Perhaps because this film does not attempt to place the weight of blame for a multitude of human errors, mistakes and sins on historical events. To be a person brings with it responsibility. Does it not?

In German, with Hungarian subtitles.
The discussions before and after the screening will be conducted in Hungarian.

Presented by: Müpa Budapest