The Third Generation

This director thinks terrorism is a stupid joke. The third generation of terror here is a bunch of bored citizens who are dumb enough not to wonder who is giving out the money that pays for their guns. It's a quite scary and funny way to look at contemporary society and some of its extremely radical enemies. Some viewers might find it disturbing instead of hilarious.

One of Fassbinder's most underrated and misunderstood films with the spirited cast-including Udo Kier, Eddie Constantine, Hanna Schygulla, Margin Carstensen-make all this touching as well as troubling. This was made during a time when West Germany was dealing with many homegrown terrorist groups. Mind it, this is not an action film but an absurd comedy to be precise which explores the German Terrorism (Baader-Meinhoff crew) of the 70s. Fassbinder takes a neutral stand here and skewers both the left and the right, he takes a dig at the corruption and hypocrisy of both the capitalists and the communists. He pokes fun at radical bourgeois nihilist leftists who wants to make a statement against capitalism, but the result is that their efforts turn out to be a big flop as it helped the wealthy capitalist. Still kinda oddly compelling almost like adding another weird one to the opus of the old anti-burgeous Godard (La Chinoise) film which is relevant as shown in the on-screen title card and the aural tricks. Beyond Godard, Robert Bresson is a major influence in the film, scenes from controversial The Devil Probably is shown playing on the TV at the beginning of this film), and Tarkovsky's Solaris. But it is so stylized and deliberately non realist that it could be something else. But what matters is its visual aspect, made of unusual frames and geometric images that makes of it one of Faasbinder's best film I know followed by Lili Marleen, fascinating from the first to the last.

i can't say i really understood this movie but i was gripped. i'd drunk 8 beers before watching and fancied something heavy and wot heavier than Fassbinder i thought. i've read all the reviews of this movie on IMDb and they tell me it's a comedy. i didn't laugh once but Fassbinder really is way above my head in every way, so u may see the comedy that i missed out on. i also read u need to see this movie 2 or 3 times to get it. i think this movie was just too complex for my little brain but i still loved it. Fassbinder's 'fox and his friends' is one of my favourite ever films so i will always be open to a Fassbinder film. i will watch this film again because i really think there is something special going on. i shouldn't have drunk 8 beers before watching this complex work but like i said, i still enjoyed it which i think says something about Fassbinder.

Fassbinder at the peak of his creative powers. Die dritte Generation is as funny as it is scary, and is just as relevant today as it was when it was first released almost 25 years ago. Aesthetically as well as thematically, this is one of the director's most fascinating - along with Die Händler der vier Jahreszeiten (1974).

In Berlin, a cell of terrorist composed by middle-class people is activated with the sentence "The World as Will and Idea", based on the central work of the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer "The World as Will and Representation". They plan to abduct the businessman P. J. Lurz ( Eddie Constantine) that works with sales of computers, while they are chased by a persistent chief of police.

"Die Dritte Generation" a.k.a. "The Third Generation" is a weird, hermetic, disconnected but mesmerizing film of German director Rainer Werner Fassbinder, divided in six chapters and dedicated to those who truly love (meaning no one in the vision of the director). The plot explores the concept of terrorism and the contradictions of the middle- class and apparently the central idea is based on Schopenhauer's central work. Unfortunately I do not have knowledge in philosophy, sociology or political science to fully understand this inaccessible film. Fassbinder uses unusual angles with his camera and strange sounds to expose with irony the bourgeois values of each ridiculous terrorist of this generation that does not have ideology. In the end, I liked this collection of ideas in spite of I have not clearly understood the film as a whole. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "A Terceira Geração" ("The Third Generation")