The shot of 00:00:28-00:00:34 in The Marriage of Maria Braun is at the beginning of the film. This shot shows that a portrait of Hitler on a wall is destroyed by gunfire and collapses. Immediately behind the wall, there are Maria and Hermann, a couple who are promising to get married. The director Fassbinder uses this rather concise and powerful shot at the beginning of the film to place the protagonist at a special historical moment. From the wedding ceremony in the sound of gunfire to the destruction in the sound of explosion. Ten years filled with blood and filth, were a decade of change in post-war Germany.
In terms of pictures and shots, a bust of Hitler with a serious face was used as the background, and the wall with Hitler's portrait posted was blown up. A large portrait of Hitler fills the frame, causing the viewer to become absorbed and relaxed, and then a loud explosion surprises the viewer. Subsequent pictures have different depths that the broken walls formed a frame, then the characters are in the frame. This has the effect of guiding the audience's attention, allowing the audience to pay attention to the characters independently. As the wall collapsed, the camera gradually focused on the characters whose inside. At this point, Maria wearing a white wedding dress, and stands in the main position to the right. It allows the audience to focus on her independently. Half-obscured behind her was Herman in his military uniform. In this focus changing shot, the director did not rush to let the audience see the faces of the characters, but inserted a panoramic empty shot of the outdoor environment. Window frames fall off and dust rises from the ground, creating a precarious situation. The camera then zeroed in on the character. The director uses the technique of contrast montage here. The nature and content of completely opposite shots are juxtaposed together, and using the conflict between them to create a strong contrast. It reinforces the content, ideas and emotions that the director wants to express. The destruction and fall of Hitler's picture shows the change of political rule. From the selection of modeling details, the fall of Hitler's picture not only casts a historical shadow over Maria's future fate, but also has the significance of connecting the overall situation of the film.
From the sound point of view, not only is this a time of cholera as people can see in the picture, but the sound is also very helpful. Then the priest said, "Will you have this woman as your wife?" With the sound of gunfire streaking through the air in the background. These two very contradictory sound elements overlap together, showing a ridiculous and sad phenomenon. In the special processing of the sound, the sound of the bomb rubbing the air gradually increases to create the physical feeling of getting closer and closer to the character, and the tension of the audience. Loud explosions followed as the walls collapsed, creating a physical sensation of collision. But in fact, there is no object attacking the wall from the outside. This combination of sound and picture is intelligent, because it achieves the effect the director wants to achieve while reducing the difficulty of preparing props. When the focus is on the characters, Maria says "I do". Fassbinder had planned Maria's life from the start, leaving her to die in his fateful marriage. Maria was deeply trapped in the trap of marriage and couldn't get out of it. Not only did her vision give her a picture of a warmer married life than she had ever known, but it also made her act to make it happen. But when she found that it was all just her own illusion, the illusion was like the chemical reaction of gas and cigarette lighter when it was not turned off at the end. It was over with a bang. The sound of gunfire at the beginning of the film echoes the sound of a gas explosion at the end. Maria and Hermann blurted out the sacred "I do" in the midst of the flames of war, and the tension of the war made the wedding, which was supposed to be peaceful, and it feels like a strained string, ready to snap at any moment. Maria may have thought she was on her way to a wonderful marriage, but the cruel reality forced her to send her overnight husband Hermann to the front line on their first day of marriage.
The uncertainty of the war pervaded people's lives. The misfortune of the historical environment also foreshadowed the inevitability of Maria's marriage. Maria fell unhappily in love with her marriage, which never actually existed, starting with the frantic wedding. This fim is still a marriage in vain. Unlike director’s previous films, which were dominated by men, this one is led by a woman, but it's the same story. Maria appears to be in a dominant position, as shown by the position of the shot. Maria is at the main right side of the frame, where the camera is focused, and her body covers part of the man behind her, and the male priest is not in the frame. It also includes Maria's subsequent identity as a consort with three men who around her. But her status is overrated, and her dependence on these three men is very high. In a male-dominated society, she has always been a figure-head. Maria becomes aware of her alienation, that she way “object” rather than an active subject at the end of film (Haralovich, 1996). In fact, in Fassbinder’s shots, the vulnerability of women contrasts with the heaviness of history. The personal life full of historical plots is placed within the traditional narrative framework and the personal fate is integrated into historical politics. The film sets off the absurdity of The Times with personal experience, hardship and confusion.
Fassbinder's high degree of generality can be seen in the short opening shot. The relationship between the characters, the tension between the characters and the environment, the contradiction between the environment and the event are shown entirely. The shot, which uses cool colors against bright red subtitles and the sound of crying babies, is a visual and auditory bombardment that has left the audience scratching their heads because of the special nature of the show. It also gives the audience the illusion of whether this is the beginning or the end of the credits. The scene envelops the audience with an invisible heaviness and try to force people to face the reality, examine themselves, and examine the country lacking in human nature.
Haralovich, M. (1996). The Sexual Politics of The marriage of Maria Braun. In G. Terry (Series Ed.), Perspectives on German Cinema (pp. 378-390). Seattle, New York: G. K. Hall.
