I just finished watching the Rainer Werner Fassbinder 14-part television epic Berlin Alexanderplatz. Again. Originally released in 1983, I first saw the when it was broadcast on PBS in Chicago around 1986-1987. It exists almost nowhere now -- I have a scratchy VHS version of it that I was fortuitous enough to tape when it aired. I've seen rumors that Criterion will finally give it a proper DVD release, but it hasn't happened yet. When it does, I'm sure I'll buy it and watch it all over again. It's exhausting viewing, but one of the greatest films ever made.
I've seen it a few times now, but this is the first time I've watched it in its entirety since I started watching the Sopranos. And as I watch the final episodes of the Sopranos (there's currently about 5 episodes left to air) and I watch Tony's downward spiral, I'm noticing that there are some striking similarities between Tony Soprano and Franz Biberkopf. the anti-hero of Berlin Alexanderplatz. To wit:
· Man with child-like tendencies, inability to function as an adult.
- When he gets agitated (and he doesn’t react by yelling) – he collapses to the floor
· Involved in the underworld, but is morally conflicted with his involvement.
· Betrayed by those in the gang he trusts.
· Must always appear tough, in the face of adversity.
· Needs stability of a regular partner, but also has girls on the side
· Has killed and beaten people, but is made to be a pitiable, tragic and even likeable character.
· Very similiar physical attributes, overweight, but carrying it with swagger.
And then there's the little things --like:
· Mieze, one of the main woman characters, is depicted scrambling away on her hands and knees in the woods before she is killed by someone in the gang, whom she thought she could trust.
· Fassbinder uses imagery of slaughterhouses and butchery throughout -- Satriale’s is a butcher shop.
There are plenty of differences, for sure, but I'm can't help thinking that David Chase and/or other Sopranos writers have, at the very least, seen and been inspired by this film. The two series are also comparable as they are both highly cinematic, but used the multi-episode virtues of television as a medium to tell the story.
Incidentally, in the strange, half-dream epilogue of Berlin Alexanderplatz, Frank Biberkopf’s journey ends in madness -- a complete mental breakdown occurs when the veils are removed and he sees the ugly truths that surround him. He survives, but is reduced to an empty shell. If this turns out to be Tony’s Soprano's fate as well (and it's beginning to seem as though Tony is coming to realize that all the self-knowledge and insight he's gained through psychotherapy will not save him), I’ll be super-convinced of the connection between the two films. If Tony's fate is madness, he could end up being the blissful, empty idiot, institutionalized (a form of prison worse than real prison for Tony), playing checkers with Uncle Junior and getting visits from Dr. Melfi.
And it would make sense. The Sopranos began with Tony's search for self-knowledge. But self-knowledge is only good if it can lead to change. Tony's therapy has helped him be a more effective leader and family man but not always a better person -- he seems incapable of that. Thinking he's been getting better when he's really not and coming to that realization could mentally destroy Tony if he finally faces his life and his deeds, clearly sees who he is and what he has done to others and at the same time loses the power (money = power) and support (women and family) to distract himself from himself. And it’s already happening. It's been happening. It’s too late to save Tony and now -- for the series to come full circle -- madness, in the form of Tony as a disillusioned, mentally and morally depleted, empty shell seems inevitable.
But that’s just my theory, after watching 14 hours of Berlin Alexanderplatz
