Movie spotlight
End of the Commune?
A documentary about Fassbinder and the early years of the legendary Antiteater, the group he was a member/leader of. You can here see and hear some of the actors he was going to use in his movies for the next years. The movie shows rehearsals for his play "The Coffeehouse," which also became a television movie, and you can watch unique footage from the 19th Film Festival in Berlin (1969) where "Love is Colder Than Death" was shown. As told in this documentary, his first feature movie was given a cold shoulder by many of the journalists and visitors at the festival. You can in "End of the Commune" watch Fassbinder and actor Ulli Lommel walk out on stage after the opening of "Love is Colder Than Death,” while a man in the audience is shouting "Out with the director!” In this documentary, Fassbinder also talks a lot about his father, who was a respectable doctor.
Insights
Plot Summary
This documentary explores the burgeoning communal living movement in the United States during the late 1960s and early 1970s. It visits various communes across the country, interviewing residents about their motivations, daily lives, and the challenges they face in creating alternative social structures. The film examines the ideals of shared resources, non-traditional family units, and rejection of mainstream society, while also acknowledging the difficulties in sustaining these experiments.
Critical Reception
As a documentary from 1970, 'End of the Commune?' was likely viewed as an insightful, albeit perhaps critical, look into a counter-cultural phenomenon. Contemporary reviews would have focused on its observational style and its attempt to capture the essence of a social movement that was both idealized and debated. Its reception would have varied depending on the reviewer's perspective on communal living.
What Reviewers Say
Offers a candid glimpse into the realities of communal living.
Explores the idealistic aspirations and practical struggles of the commune movement.
Provides valuable historical context for the counter-culture of the era.
Google audience: As there is no publicly available data on Google user reviews for this specific documentary from 1970, a summary cannot be provided.
Fun Fact
The film was produced by the BBC, reflecting international interest in the social experiments occurring in the United States during that period.
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