In a Year of 13 Moons
| In a Year of 13 Moons | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Rainer Werner Fassbinder |
| Produced by | Rainer Werner Fassbinder |
| Written by | Rainer Werner Fassbinder |
| Starring |
Volker Spengler Ingrid Caven Gottfried John |
| Music by | Peer Raben |
| Cinematography | Rainer Werner Fassbinder |
| Edited by |
Rainer Werner Fassbinder Juliane Lorenz |
| Distributed by |
Tango-Film Filmverlag der Autoren |
Release date |
|
Running time | 124 minutes |
| Country | West Germany |
| Language | German |
In a Year of 13 Moons (German: In einem Jahr mit 13 Monden) is a 1978 West German drama film directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder and starring Volker Spengler.[1] The film was made in response to the suicide of Fassbinder's lover at the time, Armin Meier. In a "Top 10" list of his own films, Fassbinder placed In a Year of 13 Moons second, after Beware of a Holy Whore.[2]
Plot
The film recounts the last few days in the life of Elvira (Volker Spengler), a transsexual woman formerly known as Erwin. After being beat up for trying to buy sex in a park, she returns home to her longtime lover Christoph (Karl Scheydt), who's been away for six weeks. Christoph abuses her verbally and physically, and when he announces he's leaving for good, she desperately tries to stop him, only to be rescued by her friend Zora (Ingrid Caven). We watch as Elvira and Zora visit a slaughterhouse and the orphanage where Elvira grew up, and her later contacts with her family and former lover Anton Saitz (Gottfried John), as she attempts to come to terms with the consequences of her decision to change her sex. The film ends with the suicide of the main character after her subliminal cries for help go by unnoticed.
Cast
- Volker Spengler as Erwin / Elvira Weishaupt
- Ingrid Caven as Rote Zora
- Gottfried John as Anton Saitz
- Elisabeth Trissenaar as Irene Weishaupt
- Eva Mattes as Marie-Ann Weishaupt
- Günther Kaufmann as J. Smolik, chauffeur
- Lilo Pempeit[n 1] as Sister Gudrun (as Liselotte Pempeit)
- Isolde Barth as Sybille
- Karl Scheydt as Christoph Hacker
- Walter Bockmayer as Soul-Frieda
- Peter Kollek as alcoholic
- Bob Dorsay as city tramp
- Gerhard Zwerenz as Burghard Hauser, writer[3]
Notes
- ↑ Pempeit was Fassbinder's mother.
References
- ↑ Canby, Vincent. "New York Times: In a Year of 13 Moons". NY Times. Retrieved 5 August 2008.
- ↑ The Anarchy of the Imagination: Interviews, Essays, Notes. Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0801843693.
- ↑ "Fassbinder Foundation: In a Year with 13 Moons". Fassbinder Foundation. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
External links
- In a Year of 13 Moons on IMDb
- Official website at the Fassbinder Foundation