Laura Smith 
The Relationship between Sound and Image in Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s ‘Die Ehe der Maria Braun’ [PDF ebook] 

Essay from the year 2012 in the subject German Studies – Miscellaneous, grade: 78, University of Birmingham, course: BA Modern Languages, language: English, abstract: The collision of sound and image in Fassbinder’s ‘Die Ehe der Maria Braun’ provides an on-screen representation of the relationship between public and private life in the film. The contrast created by this collision is a distancing technique which encourages the audience to consider the implications of ignoring the political (public) world at the time of the Wirtschaftswunder and in their own time. This essay aims to demonstrate the way in which Fassbinder achieves this through his manipulation of sound and image, specifically examining the open and closing credits, the radio broadcasts of Konrad Adenauer’s speeches, Oswald’s piano playing and the final radio broadcast concerning the 1954 World Cup.