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Article: Hard Times at the Cinema; West German Film Industry Faces Decline
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- January 23, 1988
- Author:
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After enjoying great success in the 1960s and '70s, West
Germany's film industry has hit troubled times.
Critics talk about an artistic crisis compounded by the growing
trend toward mammoth, international coproductions aimed primarily at
making money. Cinema attendance also is down, and last year only
seven West German movies drew more than a half million viewers.
To many, 42-year-old director Wim Wenders, whose latest work is
the prize-winning "Der Himmel Ueber Berlin," remains Germany's main
hope, since the death in 1982 of Rainer Werner Fassbinder, who
created such masterworks as "The Marriage of Maria Braun" (1978) and
"Berlin Alexanderplatz" (1980).
Other filmmakers of note include ...