Chinesisches Roulette (1977)

Directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Starring Margit Carstensen, Alexander Allerson, Anna Karina, Ulli Lommel, Andrea Schober, Brigitte Mira, Volker Spengler, Macha Méril.

The titular game of truth has words for bullets, and they’re just as dangerous. Disabled pre-teen Schober vengefully tricks her unfaithful parents (and, by extension, each of their lovers) into arriving at the family’s country estate at the same time, and when the “surprise encounter” doesn’t work as intended, she escalates the situation. Cold but amusing, more of an intellectual provocation than an emotional one despite the Sirk-ian maneuvers (and it’s hard to shake comparisons to Bergman and Chabrol, among others). Michael Ballhaus’ photographic approach is an interesting but not entirely successful one, switching gears between the rustic glow of rosy intimacy and a much more muted, remote diffidence. Good performances offset some of the more unpleasant aspects of the script. Although not often intrusive, Peer Raben’s music is borderline arbitrary during most appearances; the inclusion of Kraftwerk’s “Radioactivity,” however, is a welcome treat.

70/100