"Merchant of Four Seasons"
1972
Directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Winner of the Filmstrip in Gold from the German Film Awards for Outstanding Individual Achievement by an Actor (Hans Hirschmuller), and Actress (Irm Hermann).  A climax in the prolific career of Rainer Werner Fassbinder. The story, that of a fruit peddler who watches his unexceptional life disintegrate, sounds like a slice-of-life melodrama gone slightly amok, but the treatment is everything; a virtuoso balance of soap opera, social comedy, irony, politics, farce and brilliant ensemble acting. German with English subtitles. With Irm Hermann, Hanna Schygulla.  88 minutes.