Bremer Freiheit: Frau Geesche Gottfried - Ein bürgerliches Trauerspiel

Gesche Gottfried (1785-1831) was a serial killer from Bremen (Northern Germany). However, in the very personal interpretation of R.W. Fassbinder, she becomes, as already the title "Bremer Freiheit" of the filmed theater piece suggests, an ancestor of the liberation movement of women, of feminism and self-decision in sexual liberality and thus also the prototype of such women types in Fassbinder's universe as Maria Braun, Lola, Karin Thimm (in: The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant), Imrgard Epp (in: The Merchant of the Four Seasons) and Hannerl Bolwieser (in: The Stationmaster's Wife). It is not clear to me why "Bremer Freiheit" (1972) - similar to "Das Kaffehaus" (1970), Nora Helmer (1973) and many other theater plays of R.W. Fassbinder (including his documentary study "Theater in Trance (1981)) are neither broadcast by TV nor put on DVD. It is not known to a broad public that Fassbinder did not only up to 10 movies per year, but also put dozens of plays onto stage and was a theater intendant, too. His theater movies are crucial for his film-work and support the understanding of many hitherto unclear motives and strategies in Fassbinders movies, especially concerning the role of women in his work.