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Baal (film)

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Baal
Directed byVolker Schlöndorff
Written byVolker Schlöndorff
Produced by
  • Hellmut Haffner
  • Hans Prescher
  • Volker Schlöndorff
Starring
CinematographyDietrich Lohmann
Edited byPeter Ettengruber
Music byKlaus Doldinger
Release date
  • 1970 (1970)
Running time
87 minutes
CountryGermany
LanguageGerman

Baal is a 1970 German television film directed by Volker Schlöndorff. It is based on the play of the same name by Bertolt Brecht. The film disappeared after Brecht's widow saw it on television and demanded that it no longer be shown. Ethan Hawke asked Schlöndorf about seeing the film at the Cannes Film Festival, but Schlöndorf replied that did not know where it was. Eventually, the film was discovered in rusty, unmarked cans filed under S. At that point, the film was restored. It was given its first home video release by Criterion in 2018. The film did not make the 1919 play a period piece, and some of the interiors featured intentionally over the top colors. It was the first film Dietrich Lohmann had shot in color. Margarethe von Trotta was the first actor cast. Fassbinder joined for the title role after Schlöndorff's first choice was unavailable. Much of the supporting cast and crew came from Fassbinder's company, whom he did not want to be put out of work by his absense from the theatre company.

Cast