Review of Lola (1981) by Paula S — 11 Oct 2007

This has to be my favorite of the BRD trilogy. This movie is painful socially. While the other movies deal with post World War II Germany, this one really has to do more with the social aspects of the common man. The corruption in this tiny German town is scary and we honestly see a natural progression of a good and honest man lose his innocence. What is odd is that Lola is a prostitute, yet doesn't renounce what she does. She is ashamed, clearly, but does not change what she does when she has the opportunity to get away from her crappy situation.

What is confusing about this story, and I blame myself more than the film, is the exact nature of the corruption. The prostitution and the whorehouse are very obvious, but why can't the building be made. As far as I understood it, individuals made far more money than the average commonworker, but that is just the nature of business. This theory is discussed in the story and I'm not sure if I'm understanding that concept wrong.

The colors in this movie are clearly deliberate. I watched this and Veronika Voss (a black-and-white film) back-to-back and it really helped illustrate what palates Fassbinder uses for his story.

To be honest, this story reminded me of La Boheme a little. Yes, there's the prostitute angle, but just the honest nature of the building supervisor with this woman of the night (not the vampire kind) is touching.