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Mother’s Mask

GER 1988, 85 min

Visconti meets “Dallas” in Schlingensief’s official remake of Veit Harlan’s OPFERGANG (1944)!

Synopsis

Upon returning home, Willy von Mühlenbeck must realize that his evil brother Martin has ascended to the head of their industrialist family – and that his ill mother is now in the grips of sinister doctors. When he falls in love with their terminally-ill neighbor Els, fate takes its tragic course.
Schlingensief exposes his source material's dangerous proximity to kitsch and camp by reducing the genre conventions known from Harlan, Sirk, Fassbinder & Co to the level of a daily soap. Rather than being a mere spoof, MOTHER’S MASK is perhaps Schlingensief’s purest black comedy.

Streaming-Info

Rent or buy the movie on our Vimeo channel. For other providers, see “Watch Movie”.
Language: German, Subtitles: English, Spanish

Credits

Director and Director of Photography
Christoph Schlingensief
With
Brigitte Kausch-Kuhlbrodt, Kalle Mews, Helge Schneider, Susanne Bredehöft, Anna Fechter, Volker Bertzky, Dieter Lersch, Udo Kier, Andreas Kunze, Conny Jurkait, Regina Stiplosak, Anastasia Kudelka, Baronin Irmgard Freifrau von Berswordt-Wallrabe, Conny Fechter, Uli Hanisch, Mathias Colli, Doris Kreis, Peter Jurkait, Dennis Koehnen
Screenplay
Mathias Colli, Christoph Schlingensief
Assistant Camera
Ralf Malwitz
Editor
Thekla von Mülheim
Assistant Editor
Ariane Traub
Music
Helge Schneider & Menu Total, Charly Weiss, Wally Böcker, Hatte Grabe
Title Song
Eva Kurowski
Sound
Eckhard Kuchenbecker, Andreas Wölki
Soundmix
Hans-Georg Kobeck
Key Grip
Voxi Bärenklau
Production Coordinator
Uli Hanisch
Assistant Director
Beatrice Hasler, Mathias Colli
Production Manager
Kim Ludolf Koch, Ariane Traub
Producer
Christoph Schlingensief
Produced by
DEM Film

DVD-Details

Restored film, 2K scan, original theatrical version
Extras
Alexander Kluge in conversation with Christoph Schlingensief (1996, 24 min – English subtitles), Christoph Schlingensief – Interview (2004, 7 min – English subtitles), Dietrich Kuhlbrodt – Interview (2015, 13 min), Christoph Schlingensief tells Hitchcocks PSYCHO (1997, 13 min), Schlingensief – film trailer
Language
German
Subtitles
English
Country Code
Code-free
System
PAL / Color
Length
80 min (25 fps) + 57 min Extras
Aspect Ratio
16:9
Sound Format
DD 2.0
Set-Content
Digipack (Set Content: 1), 16-page booklet with texts and photos
Release date
06.11.2015
Rating
From 16 years

Distribution Details

Screening Format
DCP (2K, 24 fps, 5.1)
Blu-ray Disc
16mm (Mono, contact Deutsche Kinemathek)
Aspect Ratio
16mm, 1:1,38
Language
German
Subtitles
English (DCP, BD)
Promotion Material
A1 poster (rent only)
License Area
Worldwide
Rating
From 16 years