In a Year with 13 Moons [In einem Jahr mit 13 Monden] *** (1978, Volker Spengler, Ingrid Caven, Gottfried John) – Classic Movie Review 6203

Writer-producer-director Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s typically dark and gloomy 1978 film tells an upsetting tale of emotional and financial explotation.

It gets Fassbinder’s most bravura handling with severe lighting, strange camera angles and dissonant music. Volker Spengler gives a remarkable performance as the transsexual main character.

Spengler stars as the vulnerable young Erwin, who is desperately in love with his boss Anton (Gottfried John). Anton tells Erwin: ‘Too bad, you aren’t a woman’, and he decides to have a sex-change operation. Tragically, Anton does not appreciate this act of love, but instead shamelessly uses Erwin, now Elvira, forcing her into having sex with other men.

Also in the cast are Ingrid Caven, Elisabeth Trissenaar Eva Mattes, Günther Kaufmann, Isolde Barth, Karl Scheydt and Lilo Pempeit (Fassbinder’s mother).

It is shot in Eastmancolor by Rainer Werner Fassbinder and scored by Peer Raben, with production design by Franz Vacek.

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 6203

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